A 63-year-old California man was arraigned last week on Threat of Terrorism and other charges after being found in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America on Ford Road in Dearborn with several highly-explosive “Class C” fireworks in his possession while wearing a black ski mask.

Roger Stockham was arrested on Jan.24.

A funeral was going on at the mosque while the man was apprehended and the people inside were not aware of the events. The suspect, Roger Stockham, was arrested by Dearborn police, who received a phone call from J.S. Field’s bar/restaurant operations manager Joe Nahhas at approximately 4:45 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 24. Stockham also had open intoxicants in his car (he had earlier ordered scotch from the bar) and spray-paint.

Nahhas had spoken with the man prior to watching him snap photographs of America’s largest mosque, which is just down the street road from J.S. Fields, before driving towards it. He said that a Stockham made threats during a conversation at the bar.

“I greeted him, which is one of my normal duties, and he said he wanted to talk,” Nahhas said. “He said that he was having magical moments, and that these hours are historical hours, because he is going to make history and the history is that there is going to be a big explosion tonight.”

Nahhas said the man was typing on a computer at a table near the main bar area and that he also had a bag which he placed on the table. Stockham claimed that he was  typing up material to be e-mailed to the press following the “big explosion.” Nahhas said his main concern was to find out exactly what the man might be planning, and where, and re-directed the conversation to find out.

“He kept saying ‘here, there, the mosque…I asked him where ‘here and there’ was, a restaurant, Ford Motor Company? But the one thing that was clear was the mosque.”

Federal authorities were notified and worked with Dearborn police during the investigation. The police said they worked closely with mosque officials as it unfolded and relied on the leaders to notify the congregation at an appropriate time and in an appropriate fashion in order to not create unnecessary alarm.

Joe Nahhas of J.S. Field’s bar who turned in the would-be bomber. PHOTO: Nick Meyer/TAAN

They said Stockham appeared to be acting alone. He was arraigned on Wednesday, January 26 on one count of Threat of Terrorism, a 20-year felony, and one count of Explosives-Possession with Unlawful Intent, a 15-year felony. His bond has been set at $500,000 with requirement of a GPS tether if bond is posted and a preliminary hearing was expected to be held on Friday, Feb. 4 at 9 a.m. before Judge Mark Somers at 19th District Court in Dearborn.

At Friday, Jan. 28’s prayer session, Imam Hassan Qazwini of the ICA spoke, officially informing his congregation about what happened.

“Dearborn police acted swiftly and immediately came and found the the man…he said he was a Vietnam veteran and his role model is Timothy McVeigh, we all know who Timothy McVeigh is, the terrorist (convicted in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995).”

Hussein Hachem of Dearborn attended the prayer session. He said that there was a general feeling of discomfort at the ICA with many people asking about security but that people became more calm once Qazwini reassured them about the increased police presence. Hachem commented on the situation following the attempted attack.

“We all seek security and we all love this country so whenever something wrong happens we should all work for the faith of each other,” he said.”The good thing about Dearborn is that if you take a look from Evergreen you’ll see the mosques and the churches together, the community here is united.”

Nahhas said that the bar staff had suspicions that Stockham had visited J.S. Fields two or three weeks before the incident had happened, but they weren’t 100% positive about it.

According to Nahhas, Stockham claimed he was a member of the Mujahadeen in Indonesia, where he said he spent time after the Vietnam War.

A report in the Imperial Beach Patch, an online newspaper in his hometown, said Stockham had suffered from  post-traumatic stress disorder and attempted suicide in 2010.

He also has a long history of criminal activity according to a report on mlive.com, including an incident in which he kidnapped his son from a foster home before crashing a plane while trying to escape from authorities. He reportedly called police and said he had a bomb before crashing. Stockham also allegedly made threats to a Vermont newspaper saying he would set off bombs in the local neighborhood.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations thanked Dearborn Police and Nahhas for helping to thwart the potential attack.

The group also noted various recent hate incidents targeting American Muslim institutions and houses of worship including an attack on an Oregon mosque, a mosque in Texas, threats against an Islamic school in Oklahoma, shots fired outside a New York mosque and others.

“We are thankful for the good samaritan in the bar who contacted police which led to this sick man being arrested, it’s obvious that he suffers from mental instability,” said Dawud Walid, head of CAIR’s Michigan chapter.

“However he shouldn’t just be dismissed as a lone wolf psycho, he had a plan, he drove from California to Michigan with the intention of fleeing to Canada and stated that Timothy McVeigh is his hero.”

Walid called for more discourse on Islam in American in order to combat false notions of the faith moving forward.

“This man had the intent of terrorizing the whole congregation and the metro Detroit Muslim community,” he said.