KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The bomb scare that led to the evacuations of the state and federal office buildings in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday afternoon was, in the words of the FBI, a misunderstanding.
But the man at the center of Friday’s bomb scare in downtown Kansas City has had a long, colorful history in Kansas City, and served as a federal witness in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Wahed Moharam, 57, a native of Egypt, was known to many Kansas City Chiefs fans as “Helmet Man,” and could often be seen at Chiefs games wearing a Chiefs jersey with his bald head airbrushed as a Chiefs helmet.
He also served as a key federal witness in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing trial, and then moved to Kansas City as a part of the witness protection program under the name “Edgar Sanchez.”
He has since begun reusing his actual name, and now runs a cleaning business in eastern Jackson County.
In 2003, the Chiefs – once they became aware of his history as a witness in a major terror trial – took away his season tickets and forbade him from entering Arrowhead Stadium as Helmet Man out of safety concerns, a move that drew some criticism at the time.
