Strangely enough, I could find no pictures of Stephen Paul Paster on the internet. After serving four years on a twenty year sentence (Paster was injured in the bombing), he went to Pakistan and apparently never came back (he is allegedly still working with Jamaal ul-Fuqra in bomb making). The group is still active in the United States.
Both the Rajneeshees and Jamaal ul-Fuqra were (and in the latter are) heavily armed. We also were not paying attention in 1983.
Three small bombs went off inside Portland's 127-room Hotel Rajneesh in the early hours of Friday, July 29, 1983. The first one exploded at 1:22 a.m. and blew a hole in the bathroom wall of Room 405. The second and third bombs, under the room's beds, ignited a little more than an hour later.
Stephen P. Paster, who lost some of his fingers from the initial blast and later was linked to a Muslim fundamentalis?enitentiary.EBL: Was Arianna Huffington part of a tantric sex cult (back in the day)?
Authorities never firmly established a motive for the attack.
TOM: New Age Cult to blame for deaths of kids in Norther California crash?
Oregon Live: What happened to the Rajneeshee's Oregon Paradise?
Apparently we've had our fair share of "lone wolf" Muslim attacks long before it was fashionable to admit it. The "Beltway sniper" comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteYes, for sure. Except Paster was no lone wolf. What is interesting about this one is it even predates the first WTC bomb attempt. You would think, in hindsight, that a radical jihadi group from Pakistan (via a Jewish Muslim convert) would be stirring the pot with a bombing between a Hindi tantric sex cult and some Oregonians would be a big deal.
Delete“Three small bombs went off… Room 405. The second and third bombs, under the room's beds, ignited a little more than an hour later.”
DeleteIn 40+ years, I’m not aware or anyone publicly questioning how two B’s remained under the bed(s) after the fire department assumed control of the room… I arrived at the dust filled room directly after Paster was evacuated by hotel security. When I informed the arriving firemen that I had found a brown leather satchel curiously placed under the middle of the room’s center bed, I was told by the lead fireman that they would handle it. Two fire-B’s subsequently detonated, causing a fire in the room, blowing a hole in the floor/ceiling to the bedroom below. None of this Information, including my presence, was recorded in the FBI’s (now declassified) report.