As expected in the kingdom of the one-eyed, Fox News tries to connect dots where none exist for farm-raised, catch-and-release violent extremists. Perhaps one of the now dead suspects was motivated by the specter of American gay-married pizza. But Fox News knows all about opportunistic co-opting and should probably also nominate Pam Geller as a soldier of the caliphate, although Glenn Beck's departure signaled that even Fox News has drawn a line in the sand.
The Islamic State terror group (ISIS) Tuesday issued a claim of responsibility for Sunday's attack on a Texas cartoon contest featuring images of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
The claim was made in an audio message on the group's Al Bayan radio station, based in the Syria city of Raqqa, which ISIS has proclaimed to be the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate. It is the first time ISIS has taken credit for an attack on U.S. soil, though it was not immediately clear whether the group's claim was an opportunistic co-opting of a so-called "lone wolf" attack as its own.
The message described the shooting suspects as "two soldiers of the caliphate" and added "We tell America that what is coming is more bitter and harder and you will see from the soldiers of the Caliphate what harms you."...
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News Tuesday that the attack was terrorism and at the very least inspired by ISIS.
McCaul also said in the days leading up to the attack, a joint FBI and Homeland Security bulletin was circulated and security for the event had been ramped up as a result, in Garland understanding that it was a target.
Authorities say the suspects, identified as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, drove up to the building where the contest was being held in the Dallas suburb of Garland and opened fire. An unarmed school district security guard was wounded before a Garland police officer returned fire and killed both men.
Soofi had a long standing hatred of police and had studied overseas in Islamabad, Pakistan, according to a Facebook account that has since been disabled.
He once owned a pizza and hot wings restaurant in Phoenix called Cleopatra, but sold it years ago as it was struggling, the New York Times reports....
Court documents show that Simpson had first been noticed by the FBI in 2006 due to his ties to a a former U.S. Navy sailor who had been arrested in Phoenix and was ultimately convicted of terrorism-related charges. In 2010, Simpson was arrested one day before he was scheduled to fly to South Africa to undertake what he claimed were religious studies at a madrassa. Recordings played at Simpson's trial indicated that he was using his studies as an excuse to travel to Somalia to link up with militant fighters there.
Despite the more than 1,500 hours of recorded conversations, including Simpson's discussions about fighting nonbelievers for Allah, whom he referred to as "kuffars" the government prosecuted him on only one minor charge — lying to a federal agent. He faced three years of probation and $600 in fines and court fees.