(CNN)They wore body armor. They carried assault rifles. And one had declared loyalty to ISIS.
A day after police killed two gunmen who tried to ambush a Garland, Texas, event featuring controversial cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed, details began to emerge about the shooters.
One
suspect, identified as Elton Simpson by a federal law enforcement
source, linked himself to ISIS in a tweet posted just before the attack.
He
also was no stranger to federal investigators. In 2011, he was
convicted of making a false statement involving international and
domestic terrorism.
The other suspect,
identified as Nadir Soofi by two federal law enforcement officials, was
Simpson's roommate in a Phoenix apartment.
He
wasn't well-known to federal law enforcement and was not on the FBI's
radar, one of the officials said. Investigators were combing through
evidence retrieved from the shooters' Arizona home to help piece
together a timeline of how their plot came together, the official said.
Authorities
are still trying to determine the suspects' motives, U.S. Secretary of
Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said Monday. At this point, he said, one
thing appears clear: A quick-thinking police officer "likely saved a
number of innocent lives."
Simpson and
Soofi never made it inside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, where
in addition to the cartoon contest, a right-wing Dutch politician who's
on an al Qaeda hit list was speaking Sunday evening.
A
traffic officer working after-hours as security for the event and armed
only with a service pistol killed both men, who were wearing body armor
and carrying assault rifles, Garland Police Department spokesman Joe
Harn told reporters Monday.
"We think
their strategy was to get into the event center, and they were not able
to get past our perimeter that we had set up," Harn said.
An
unarmed security officer working with the patrol officer was shot in
the ankle, police said. None of the approximately 200 people attending
the event was hurt.
Harn declined to call the incident a terror attack, saying the motive was still under investigation.
"We don't know their intent, other than that they were willing to pull up and shoot police," Harn said.
Links to ISIS?
Investigators
haven't revealed what they found in the suspects' apartment, but
Simpson's social media footprint reveals one possible motive; he linked
himself to ISIS in a tweet posted just before the attack.
"May
Allah accept us as mujahideen," the tweet said, adding that Simpson and
his fellow attacker had pledged loyalty to "Amirul Mu'mineen" (the
leader of the faithful) -- a description that CNN terrorism analyst Paul
Cruickshank said likely refers to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
After
the shooting, an ISIS propagandist that Simpson had earlier asked his
readers to follow tweeted, "Allahu Akbar!!!! 2 of our brothers just
opened fire" at the Texas event.
"If
there is no check on the freedom of your speech, then let your hearts be
open to the freedom of our actions," tweeted the propagandist, who was
identified by two American groups that monitor jihadi websites as Junaid
Hussain, a British ISIS fighter in Syria who goes by the name Abu
Hussein al Britani.
In 2011, Simpson was sentenced to three
years of probation after his conviction on the terror-related charge,
court records show. Prosecutors said he told FBI agents that he had not
discussed traveling to Somalia to engage in "violent jihad" when, in
fact, he had, according to an indictment reviewed by CNN.
U.S.
authorities are investigating whether Sunday's shooting has any link to
international terrorism. Simpson's tweet could indicate the attack was
inspired by ISIS, but not necessarily orchestrated by the group, sources said.
Similarities to attacks in Denmark, France
The
incident bears similarities to attacks this year on events in France
and Denmark featuring images of Mohammed, which some Muslims believe is
blasphemous.
In January, gunmen attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo,
a French satirical magazine that has a controversial history of
depicting Mohammed, and killed 12 people. The next month, a gunman attacked a free speech forum in Copenhagen, Denmark, featuring cartoonist Lars Vilks, who infuriated al Qaeda with his depictions of Mohammed.
The
Sunday night event in Garland invited cartoonists to send in
caricatures of Mohammed. It was organized by the American Freedom
Defense Initiative -- considered an anti-Muslim group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
The keynote speaker was right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who's on an al Qaeda hit list.
Organizers said they received more than 350 submissions for the event.
The
winning entry won $12,500. The black and white drawing shows a
cartoonist's hands sketching a sword-wielding Mohammed, who is shouting,
"You can't draw me!"
A speech bubble coming from the hands depicts the cartoonist's response: "That's why I draw you."
"The
Islamic jihadis are determined to suppress our freedom of speech
violently." Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense
Initiative, told CNN. "They struck in Paris and Copenhagen recently, and
now in Texas."
Responding Monday to criticisms of her group as anti-Islamic, she said, "There is a problem in Islam, as illustrated last night, and anyone that addresses it gets attacked in this same way."
Venue hosted anti-Islamaphobia event
The American Freedom Defense Initiative said it specifically picked the venue for Sunday's event, a school district-owned facility, because it had hosted an event denouncing Islamophobia in January.
SoundVision,
the organizers of the January "Stand with the Prophet" event, denounced
Sunday's attackers and also criticized Geller's organization for "hate
mongering."
"Unfortunately, some insane
persons, however, decided to give hate-mongers the attention they
desired with their violent act. ... Once again, a bad name for the
community," SoundVision said on its website. "We, the people of faith, must counter the war-terror-hate cycle with peace-love-respect."
Shortly after the Sunday night shooting, a prominent Muslim leader in Dallas tweeted about it.
"The
community stayed away from event," Imam Zia Sheikh wrote. "Seems like a
lone wolf type of attack. Just what we didn't want."
'A gentle person'
Members
of a mosque the suspects attended, the Islamic Community Center of
Phoenix, are in shock about what happened, said its president, Usama
Shami.
Simpson was a regular worshiper
at the mosque until around 2010 or 2011, about the time the FBI arrested
him on the false statement charges.
During that time, he offered no signal that he held radical views, Shami said.
"He was a gentle person," Shami said of Simpson. "He always had a good attitude, a good demeanor."
Soofi
came to the mosque less frequently, Shami said. He owned a local pizza
shop and would show up at the mosque with his young son.
"They
didn't show any signs of radicalization or any signs of even thinking
about those things in that manner. So when that happens it just shocks
you," Shami said. "How good did you know these people, that's the
question that people ask themselves."
'Freedom of speech is under violent assault'
Wilders,
the Dutch politician who was the keynote speaker at the Garland event,
is controversial for his anti-Islam views. He was placed on the al Qaeda
hit list for his film "Fitna."
The
film, which Wilders released online in March 2008 to international
outcry, features disturbing images of terrorist acts superimposed over
verses from the Quran in an apparent attempt to paint Islam as a threat
to Western society.
In 2011, Wilders was cleared of charges of inciting discrimination and hatred with the movie.
"The
day we give away humor and freedom of speech is the day that we cease
to exist as a free and independent people," he told the attendees at the
Garland event Sunday night.
The American Freedom Defense
Initiative is also known for its anti-Muslim stance, with the Southern
Poverty Law Center describing Geller as "the anti-Muslim movement's most
visible and flamboyant figurehead," a description that she disputes.
The conservative blogger first gained national attention with her group, "Stop the Islamization of America,"
and its vocal opposition to an Islamic community center planned near
the site of New York's ground zero, where the twin towers of the World
Trade Center were destroyed by Islamist hijackers on September 11, 2001.
Geller said Sunday's attack showed how necessary the event was, adding that she plans to hold similar events in the future.
"The
freedom of speech is under violent assault here in our nation," she
said. "The question now before us: Will we stand and defend it or bow to
violence, thuggery and savagery?"
No comments:
Post a Comment