Hamid Hayat recites a passage from the Quran to open a service held eight days after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The service, which attracted more than 300 people to the Lodi Boys and Girls Club gymnasium, promoted peace among all cultures in Lodi and throughout the world. Today, Hayat sits in Sacramento County Jail on a charge of lying about his alleged involvement in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. (News-Sentinel file photo)

Lodi man with alleged terrorist link took part in post-9/11 peace service

A man the FBI arrested last week on a charge of lying about attending a terrorism camp in Pakistan ironically played a role in a service in Lodi preaching peace and understanding among the world's many cultures following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Hamid Hayat, 22, remains in custody at Sacramento County Jail because of his alleged link to terrorism, yet he recited a passage from the Quran during a special service on Sept. 18, 2001, that was attended by Christians and Muslims in Lodi, Stockton and Sacramento.

Usamaa Ismail, Hayat's cousin, confirmed Thursday that the man pictured is Hayat. He even remembered Hayat attended the public event.

Mohammad Khan, a Lodi Boys and Girls Club employee, added that he is "95 percent" sure the man pictured at the service is Hayat.

More than 300 people packed the Lodi Boys and Girls Club gym on Poplar Street to spread the word of peace -- eight days after Muslim terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Hayat stood before the crowd to quote the Quran with the red, white and blue American flag and the green and white Pakistani flag draped behind him.

Norm Mowery, who was pastor of First United Methodist Church at the time, said he believes the people who participated in the peace service were genuine in their beliefs.

"I'm the perennial optimist and I look for the best in people," said Mowery, who is now pastor at Church of the Wayfarer, a Methodist church in Carmel. "I think the stand was genuine, virtuous and right. I can't imagine that anyone who participated in that (service) would try to hurt Americans. And if they did, it's wrong."

Dixon Flynn, who was Lodi's city manager at the time, acknowledged the irony of someone attending a six-month terrorist training camp in Pakistan in 2003 and 2004, yet preaching peace and harmony days after 9/11.

"Why would he go to an event like (the 2001 service) and try (now) to prevent peace?

"I prefer to wait and see the evidence before making a judgment. I don't know that he's done anything."

Hayat's attorney, Wazhma Mojaddidi, was intrigued after learning on Thursday that the News-Sentinel had a 2001 photograph of Hayat reading from the Quran.

"I think the picture you have is consistent with the way he feels about terrorism," she said. "Anybody who plays an active role and expresses peace and unity couldn't be labeled a terrorist."

Keith Land, who sat on the Lodi City Council at the time, declined to speculate on the possible irony about Hayat's involvement in the 2001 peace even and perhaps attending a terrorist camp.

"The overall situation is a real tragedy," Land said. "I am hopeful that all the allegations are not true and that the statements were made because he was under a lot of pressure."

News-Sentinel staff writer Jake Armstrong contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.