Pensacola shooter was an Islamic terrorist! No kidding??!!

Nearly a year after "a man" opened fire inside a classroom at the US Naval Air Station at Pensacola FL, killing three people and wouding another seven, Attorney General William Barr told a presser yesterday that in the months leading up to the attack, "the man" (aka Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani) communicated with al-Qaeda operatives about planning and tactics. Imagine that!!!

Why do you think the authorities, who had at first refused to utter the words "terrorism" or "Islamic" (even though they knew Mr Alshamrani was a Saudi air force officer), were until now not able to make the connection which occurred to Walt that very day?

According to Mr Barr, it was Apple's fault, for failing to help the lawmen open the shooter's phones so they could access key evidence. When they did, they discovered contacts between the Mohammedan [aka Muslim. Ed.] and operatives of al-Qaeda. Again, imagine that!!!

Said Mr Barr, “We now have a clearer understanding of Alshamrani's associations and activities in the years, months and days leading up to his attack." The phones revealed contact between Mr Alshamrani and "dangerous" operatives from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Pensinsula, or AQAP, that continued until shortly before the shooting. They also revealed that he had been radicalized since at least 2015, before he arrived in the USA, and had meticulously planned the attack.

According to FBI Director Chris Wray, the attack was "the brutal culmination of years of planning and preparation." Mr Alshamrani created minicam videos as he cased a military school building, and saved on his phone a will that purported to explain himself. AQAP released that document soon after the shooting, when it claimed responsibility for it, but at that time, US officials said they were still "investigating".

Asked whether al-Qaeda had directed or inspired the attacks, Mr Wray said it was "certainly more than just inspired." Law enforcement officials had previously left no doubt that Alshamrani was motivated by jihadist ideology, saying he visited a New York City memorial to the attacks of 9/11 over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and posted anti-American and anti-Israeli messages on social media just hours before the shooting. Yet throughout the presser, neither Mr Barr nor Mr Wray actually used the words "Islamic" or "Islamist" or "Muslim". Strange, isn't it?

Further reading: "Obama Continues To Caution Against Labeling 9/11 Attacks 'Terrorism' Too Quickly", Babylon Bee, 20/9/16. [Just in case... you know that the Babylon Bee is satire... right? Ed.]