Alton Alexander Nolen / Courtesy of Georgia Newsday |
A man who beheaded a co-worker in Oklahoma, U.S., has been charged with murder and assault Tuesday.
Alton Alexander Nolen, 30, killed a co-worker and wounded another in a knife attack at a Vaughan Foods plant in Moore, an Oklahoma City suburb.
District Attorney Greg Mashburn said Nolen could potentially face the death penalty. He told a news conference, "It is highly likely that I will seek the death penalty."
According to Mashburn, Nolen, an African-American, and a co-worker named Traci Johnson had an argument about race. Nolen told her did not like white people, and Johnson complained to the human resources department, which suspended Nolen on the same day.
Mashburn said Nolen went home, got a large kitchen knife and returned to the plant, where he attacked Colleen Hufford, 54, from behind, killing her and severing her head, allegedly mumbling in Arabic.
Alton Alexander Nolen donned under Muslim tunic |
Several co-workers said he had tried to convert them to become Muslims. His Facebook page shows a photo of Osama bin Laden.
Mashburn said the attack had more to do with the racial conflict than with Nolen's attempts to convert people.
Federal officials are viewing the attack more as workplace violence than terrorism. But some people say that because the attack happened after the extreme terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) beheaded two American journalists in Syria, the incident is linked to terrorism.
Mark Vaughan |
Meanwhile, CNN's "The Hour" anchorman John Berman is in hot water for using the phrase "any way you slice it" three times during his coverage of the accident.
Berman promptly tweeted an apology, but his followers have criticized him for his insensitivity.