*See end of post for comments from UC Irvine Police Chief Paul Henisey.
ORIGINAL POST, Sept. 17, 1:32 p.m.A person from UC Irvine's parking and transportation department alerted campus police to an eerie poster hung up in one of the parking structures around 1 p.m. last Friday.
It's an image of an Islamic scholar from the late nineteenth century, Syed Muhammad Hussein Shah, with the Islamic mantra that reads “There is no god but the One God, and the Prophet Muhammad is God's last messenger” written on his beard in Arabic. At the top of the poster, it reads “On September 29 at noon at the UCI Campus University Center in protest of the state of the world, and in light of recent events, I will set myself on fire.” The bottom indicates a Facebook page to Max Bukhari.
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The page listed the owner's birthday as September 11, 2001, but as of today, Max Bukhari's page was taken down.
Campus
police initiated a suspicious activity report and is currently trying
to determine the culprit behind the poster. School starts in one week,
so not many students are aware of the poster, says UCI communications
director Cathy Lawhon.
Only one poster has been found thus far. As of now, it's uncertain
whether the police department will distribute extra personnel on
September 29.
Update, Sept. 17, 5:08 p.m.: UCI police chief Paul Henisey says the poster was taken down shortly after it was put up on campus. When asked whether incidents like this have occurred before, he says that “we have had many unusual or noteworthy postings over the years although nothing claiming action such as a self-immolation.”
There will be extra security personnel on campus on September 29, according to him.
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