Ft. Hood suspect's friend 'ji-hobbyist'

FORT HOOD, Texas, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A teen-age friend of the accused Fort Hood, Texas, gunman shown the signs of being a so-called jihadist hobbyist, a terrorism expert says.

Duane Reasoner Jr., 18, a Muslim convert, was a frequent dinner companion of Army Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, accused of shooting and killing 13 people Nov. 5 at the army base. He's been laying low recently after telling a British reporter he felt "no pity" for the massacre victims.

Reasoner has shown an interest in jihadist Web content and videos of figures tied with al-Qaida, including Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical imam who exchanged e-mails with Hasan, ABC News reported Tuesday.

Reasoner appears to be a prime example of a "jihad hobbyist," young, online users who radicalize themselves by taking in hardcore jihadist Web content, terrorism expert Jarret Brachman told ABC in an interview.

"They make hating America, hating the West, their hobby," said Brachman, a former research director of the West Point-based Combating Terrorism Center.

Brachman said "ji-hobbyists," as he calls them, typically confine their jihadist following to the Web.