DALLAS, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The Jordanian father of Dallas terrorism suspect Hosam Smadi says he's mystified by his son's arrest.
The father of the 19-year-old, accused of plotting to blow up a Dallas office building, says his son changed after being sent to the United States, the Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.
The father, agricultural engineer Maher Smadi, told the newspaper he has tried to reconcile the eldest son he knew with the terrorism charges, but can't.
"We never expected anything like this," he said in Arabic through a translator. "We sent him to the United States for a new life."
Maher Smadi said his son was was quiet, studious and sensitive to criticism, and that he liked singing Christian hymns. But after sending him to the United States following the death of his mother, he saw that his son had changed.
He told the Morning News that on a visit to the United States, he recoiled in anger and shock when he saw Hosam wearing an earring.
"In our culture, it is never acceptable for a man to wear earrings," Maher Smadi said.
