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Feds overlooked Texas jihadi because “there are so many like him”

May 6, 2015 8:52 pm By Robert Spencer

ht_elton_simpson_garland_texas_bug_jc_150504_16x9_992“There are so many like him that you have to prioritize your investigations.” But…but…it’s a tiny minority of extremists!

“Texas Attacker Left Trail of Extremist Ideas on Twitter,” by Scott Shane, New York Times, May 5, 2015:

WASHINGTON — Counterterrorism officials on Tuesday were studying the electronic trails left by two men killed by a police officer as they shot at a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas, looking for any direct ties to the Islamic State extremist group in Syria. The group praised the gunmen in a statement as “soldiers of the caliphate,” the unified Muslim land that it purports to be building.

But any secret ties that officials might find may be less important than the public exchanges of messages on Twitter by one of the gunmen, Elton Simpson, in the weeks before the attack. Mr. Simpson, a convert to Islam with a long history of extremism, regularly traded calls for violence on Twitter with Islamic State fighters and supporters, as well as avowed enemies of Pamela Geller, the organizer of the cartoon contest.

His Twitter contacts included Junaid Hussain, a British fighter with the Islamic State in Syria known as Abu Hussain al-Britani, and Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, a Somali-American now in Somalia who uses the name Mujahid Miski and frequently promotes the Islamic State. Both men called for violence, and Mr. Hassan had suggested the Texas event as a possible target.

On April 23, 10 days before the Texas attack, Mr. Hassan linked to the planned cartoon event in Texas, praised the January shootings at a satirical newspaper in Paris and called on jihadists in the United States to follow that example.

“The brothers from the Charlie Hebdo attack did their part,” Mr. Hassan wrote in the post. “It’s time for brothers in the #US to do their part.”

Later the same day, Mr. Simpson posted about the cartoon contest, using the handle Shariah is Light: “When will they ever learn. They are planning on selecting the best picture drawn of Rasulullah (saws) in Texas.” Rasulullah (saws) is a respectful phrase for the prophet.

The onslaught of recruitment propaganda has multiplied the number of online enthusiasts for the Islamic State in the United States, giving counterterrorism investigators the difficult task of deciding which are simply fantasizing in public and which might be planning violence.

“The ISIS guys are talking to these wannabes on Twitter all day long,” a senior law enforcement official said. “It’s like the devil is sitting on their shoulder saying, ‘Come on, they’re insulting the prophet, what are you going to do about it?’ ”

The official, who would speak about the continuing investigation only on condition of anonymity, said that although Mr. Simpson had long been under F.B.I. scrutiny, he had not appeared to be preparing for violence. “There are so many like him that you have to prioritize your investigations,” the official said….

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Filed Under: "Tiny Minority of Extremists", American jihadis, Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Muhammad cartoons Tagged With: Elton Simpson


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Comments

  1. rhondakelly07 says

    May 6, 2015 at 9:01 pm

    Get the Mexicans, Illegals and blacks out , every gang member every Muslim ever Democrat

    • Don McKellar says

      May 6, 2015 at 9:06 pm

      Wow, are YOU ever on the WRONG site, you drunk. Move on. Racists are not welcome here.

    • JamesonRocks says

      May 6, 2015 at 9:48 pm

      Sounds like you must have been looking for a KKK site… Maybe the eyeholes in your hood are affecting your vision…

    • Chabuco says

      May 6, 2015 at 9:59 pm

      1/10

    • Westman says

      May 6, 2015 at 11:53 pm

      This is the wrong website for racial bias. I don’t care if you are green, red, or blue. If you want to be an American and contribute to the society, you are welcome in my sight. This is a country of Immigrants.

      When you come and want your own law and have a long-term plan to replace my government, my freedom, and my religion, with your Supremist Ideology and Sharia, then we have a problem.

      There are some darn fine lapsed Muslims and Hindus, fellow Americans, that are keeping Silicon Valley, and many other industries viable. I wish them well.

    • katnis says

      May 7, 2015 at 2:33 am

      Huh?

    • mortimer says

      May 7, 2015 at 11:13 am

      It’s an ideological website, not a racial one. Islam is not a race, but a political death cult.

      Rhonda, you prove that stupidity has no race.

    • Shane says

      May 7, 2015 at 3:51 pm

      It makes sense to stop all Muslim immigration into the USA as every Muslim immigrant is a potential jihadi. Our objection to Muslims is their barbaric and violent religion of jihad and misogyny. Racists are not welcome at this site.

    • Joe Shmo says

      May 7, 2015 at 5:05 pm

      Seems like a smear campaign to me…

  2. jewdog says

    May 6, 2015 at 9:01 pm

    So many like him, indeed. Have you been to a college campus lately?

    • Whiskey and Pork Rinds says

      May 7, 2015 at 3:00 am

      Yes, the audience at Pamela Geller’s talk at Brooklyn College looked like it was full of brain-washed people like this shooter. That is why we need more Mohammed art contests. Because when we don’t hold these contests and appease the savages, they become emboldened and grow in number. They think they can do what ever they want with free-reign and the liberals (and some conservatives like O’reilly and Ingraham) are giving them that message loud and clear. And when every you say “Islam has nothing to do with it” you are emboldening them as well. They laugh at you at what a stupid Kaffir you are.

    • Whiskey and Pork Rinds says

      May 7, 2015 at 3:08 am

      Yes the audience at Pam Geller’s talk at Brooklyn College looked to be full of brain-washed people like the shooter. That’s why we need more Mohammed art contests because when we don’t hold them and appease the savages, we embolden them and send the message that they have free-reign to do what ever they want. And that is the message the liberals and some conservatives (O’reilly and Ingraham for example) have been spoon-feeding them. And when you say “it has nothing to do with Islam” you are emboldening them further and they laugh at you for what a stupid, gullible Kufir you are.

      • jewdog says

        May 7, 2015 at 12:04 pm

        The main message of the event is just this: do not impose your religious beliefs on us. If Muslims want to kill other Muslims for blasphemy, fine, but don’t kill us. I think the reason that some people are less intolerant of that imposition is because they want to impose some of their beliefs on others. That’s not to say that they are violent, or in the same league as the jihadis, but they are distant cousins.

    • mortimer says

      May 7, 2015 at 11:15 am

      SO MANY LIKE HIM? Ding-ding-ding-ding! Alarm bells!

      Review immigration policy.

      • Oliver says

        May 9, 2015 at 3:04 pm

        I agree to review immigration policies; however, I think that one or both of these scumbag shooters was(if one) or were (if both) born here.

        it does mention that he was a convert to Islam

  3. William Lucas Harvey Jr. says

    May 6, 2015 at 9:38 pm

    On Yea – “There are so many like him that you have to prioritize your investigations.”

    Remember the “Prioritization”, is under the control of America’s obvious Pro Islam, Pro Muslim “Imperial Potus”.

    Will Islamic Muslim Butchers be included in that “Prioritization” ?

    Un – NOT.

  4. JamesonRocks says

    May 6, 2015 at 9:40 pm

    “‘There are so many like him that you have to prioritize your investigations,’the official said….”

    Wow… What a profound and, I suspect, unintended admission. God help us!

  5. Westman says

    May 6, 2015 at 9:55 pm

    It should be obvious that DHS and its subsidiaries do not have the personnel necessary to keep track of all the loose ends, and never has. It’s time for the government to stop ruling and start leading by getting the cooperation of the American People to assist with this problem. It has spent over a trillion dollars to unsucessfully win hearts and minds in the Middle East while treating its own citizens like children.

    We can preserve our country as a team. If it becomes only the purview of the Elite, we will eventually be enslaved. They and the appeasers cannot, and will not, do it alone.

    • Bartender says

      May 7, 2015 at 3:29 am

      Agree, it is moronic to play whack-a-mole when the game is accelerating out of control.

      Anyone could tell you it is more intelligent to figure out why the number of moles are growing so fast. And in this case these geniuses have come to the conclusion that it is because we have not been nice enough to them and not followed their sharia laws and thus insulted them. We haven’t changed our laws and behaviors fast enough to the savages’ liking. If we only do then the violence will disappear. I am flabbergasted at how dumb that is. I can’t believe that they believe that appeasement will stop the violence and fix the problem. How dumb can they be?

      • Bartender says

        May 7, 2015 at 3:36 am

        I didn’t mean to imply that we need to stop whacking them. We need to continue to whack, absolutely. But quit appeasing the savages and lying to the world about the problem.

  6. somehistory says

    May 6, 2015 at 10:33 pm

    And the judge and his lawyer convinced themselves that he was not a real danger even though he said it was time to *roll* and gave all of the indications that he was looking for an opportunity.

    And the biggest tell-tale…his mosque said he was a *quite* man. I do believe on one of the news reports about him it was claimed by the Arizona center imam that he had stopped going to the mosque sometime before he traveled to Texas to kill innocent persons. They are all *quiet* and many *stop attending* mosques before acting out the violence they are taught therein..
    Not that it can really be believed that he stopped attending any more than the others who have engaged in violence in the cause of the evil beast.
    And yes, the devil is sitting on their shoulders whispering in their ears.

    • dumbledoresarmy says

      May 7, 2015 at 3:11 am

      His mosque should have been raided already.

      Anything illegal found? – a sniff of drugs, a whiff of explosives, even one unauthorised/ unregistered weapon? – even one beheading video? – shut it down. Permanently. If it isn’t in a ‘heritage’ building…raze it to the ground.

      Investigate its finances, too: where the money comes from, where it goes, and which Islamic ‘charities’ the zakat is paid to.

      Sure, the internet plays its part.

      But the mosque is still key. Everything begins and ends with the mosque.

      Strikes me that everyone who regularly attends that mosque – especially everyone involved in some kind of authority position – the ‘prayer leader’ – the people who handle its finances – ought to be interrogated. Thoroughly. And investigated: starting with really thorough background checks.

      Every time there is a foiled or attempted or – worse – achieved jihad attack, any mosque definitely connected with any one of the attackers ought to be surprise-raided and searched, and shut down – preferably demolished – if *any* evidence of treasonous/ seditious and/ or criminal activity, whether in connection with the attack or of some other sort, is detected. If that happened *every* time, I suspect the number of jihad attacks would drop off somewhat. Attack or try to attack the kuffar? – lose one of your forts/ military bases.

      • awake says

        May 7, 2015 at 9:17 am

        I couldn’t agree more DDA, but you and I both know that mosques are no-go zones under the current political climate. We would need more dead infidels for them to start that investigation.

        In the case of the FBI, “If you see something, do nothing.”

      • Oliver says

        May 9, 2015 at 3:08 pm

        To the best of my (admitted, limited) knowledge, only Saudi Arabia and one or two (or perhaps more) Gulf States make surprise raids on mosques, and if found with weapons, drugs, etc. close them.

        (With SA, at least under Abdullah, not sure if this clown is continuing it).

  7. dumbledoresarmy says

    May 7, 2015 at 3:19 am

    There are so many like him.

    There’s another way in which one can say there are many ‘like him’; like him not in terms of getting themselves on the authorities’ radar screen by incendiary tweets, but like him simply in the sense that they are people of non-Muslim background who have converted to Islam.

    And the thing that should be keeping law enforcement up o’nights is this: what of the Nu’aym bin Mas’uds?

    By that I mean: those who have converted to Islam but – *unlike* this creature and others of his ilk, who immediately become zealous Muslims – have NOT declared their change of allegiance. This man’s family at least knew their son had become a Muslim; they should at that point have become alarmed, very alarmed, and should have kept a very close and beady eye upon him thenceforward. But what if – perhaps instructed to do so – he had *concealed* his new belief system, his new Gang membership, and his intentions, refrained from tweeting all over the landscape, and bided his time?

  8. Baucent says

    May 7, 2015 at 3:35 am

    “It’s like the devil is sitting on their shoulder and saying “Come on! they’re insulting the prophet, what are you going to do about it?”

    Now we are getting close to the truth.

    • somehistory says

      May 7, 2015 at 5:52 pm

      I just read this on an AP story: “”The siren song sits in the pockets, on the mobile phones, of the people who are followers on Twitter,” Comey said. “It’s almost as if there’s a devil sitting on the shoulder, saying, ‘Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!’ all day long.”

      FBI Director James Comey….maybe the FBI is getting wise to the real source of the trouble.

  9. Dan says

    May 7, 2015 at 8:59 am

    If there are “So many like him…”

    I don’t want to hear any more of this “Lone Wolf” garbage.

  10. Dave J says

    May 7, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    It’s one thing if they want to believe in their pathetic “religion”, worship their false prophet and follow all the stupid rules and hateful instructions, but when they insist that everyone else should too that is the clue that is screaming Fascism.

    It should not be our role to babysit every immigrant for any sign of them going off the rails, especially now that there are “so many like him”. That is unreasonable, unaffordable and literally impossible.

    We should not be admitting anyone to this country who has a “higher commitment ” to anything over democracy and free speech.

    • The Doctor says

      May 7, 2015 at 1:47 pm

      Dave J,

      good idea, but impractical. Muslims are commanded to lie, even to deny that they are Muslims, if it will advance the cause of Islam.

      The only thing that will work is a repeat of the Spanish Inquisition, but I think that may be a wee bit extreme and produce too many false positives.

  11. Joe Shmo says

    May 7, 2015 at 5:03 pm

    “We are not at war with Islam” – Barrack Obama

  12. particolor says

    May 7, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    The World has enough Problems with Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Floods and Fire, without a Carbuncle of Imams, Hypnotizing Hoards of Rabid Jihadists to Take Over The Planet !!
    Give them ALL a Good Dose of Laxettes, they will SH*T themselves and Go Home !!..
    If I receive and Inferior Product in the Post, I package it up with a List of its Faults and SEND IT BACK !!

  13. Bezelel says

    May 7, 2015 at 8:34 pm

    hussein obola opened the gates of hell to let the demon infested feral beasts in. Like Pam said, he created the environment. This is that fundamental change the snake was referring to. Plus a few more deviant twists.

  14. Uncle Vladdi says

    May 8, 2015 at 12:14 am

    The FBI just abdicated their responsibility to defend American citizens from enemies.

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