FBI: Man said Masons ‘playing with the world like a game’

By: 9 years ago

Samy Mohamed Hamzeh is seen in an undated photo provided by the Waukesha County (Wis.) Sheriffs Department. Federal prosecutors charged 23-year-old Samy Mohamed Hamzeh on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, with unlawfully possessing a machine gun and receiving and possessing firearms not registered to him. Federal agents said Tuesday that Mohamed Hamzeh wanted to storm a Masonic temple with a machine gun and kill at least 30 people in an attack he hoped would show “nobody can play with Muslims” and spark more mass shootings in the United States. Waukesha County (Wis.) Sheriffs Department via AP

MILWAUKEE, United States—Samy Mohamed Hamzeh wanted to shoot up a Milwaukee Masonic event center in the name of Islam because he thought the group that owns it is “playing with the world like a game,” according to federal authorities.

But a member of the fraternal organization, which is not a religion, said Wednesday it isn’t at “the root of some of the world’s problems.”

“We can hardly plan a pancake breakfast,” said Gavin DeGrave, who is a secretary for the Valley of Milwaukee, which includes four Masonic chapters.

Hamzeh, 23, has been charged with unlawfully possessing a machine gun and receiving and possessing improperly registered firearms in what authorities say was a planned mass shooting at a Masonic temple. Some people who know Hamzeh, however, have cast doubt on whether he was capable of such an attack, including a former co-worker who said he smoked a lot of marijuana.

While the FBI has not publicly identified which temple, DeGrave said the FBI told the fraternity that the alleged target was the Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center in downtown Milwaukee. That location, he said, had been used for banquets and wedding receptions, but has been restricted since last year to Masonic functions.

The federal criminal complaint does not make clear whether Hamzeh or informants recommended the Masonic center as the target. But Hamzeh told informants: “They are all Masonic; they are playing with the world like a game, man, and … we don’t know what’s going on, these are the ones who are fighting, these are the ones that needs to be killed.” He said later, “these are the ones who are making living for us like hell.”

FBI spokesman Leonard Peace said Wednesday he didn’t have any additional information. U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Dean Puschnig said a preliminary hearing on the complaint has been scheduled for Feb. 9.

Hamzeh was being held in the Kenosha County jail, about 30 miles south of Milwaukee. Associate federal defender Craig Albee has been appointed to the case, for which Hamzeh hasn’t been asked to enter a plea.

Stiller said he didn’t know whether Hamzeh is an American citizen, and Albee didn’t immediately return an email seeking that information. Attempts to reach Hamzeh’s father by phone weren’t successful.