Corpus Christi attacker identified as... you'll never guess... will you?

Following Thursday's terrorist attack on the Naval Air Station at Corpus Christi TX, FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Leah Greeves told the meeja she would not discuss a potential motive or specify what led investigators to believe the shooting was related to terrorism. Her exact words were, "We have determined that the incident at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is terrorism related. We are working diligently with our state, local and federal partners on this investigation, which is fluid and evolving."

Note that although Ms Greeves did force herself to say the T-word, she did not use any adjectives, such as, errr, "Islamic". Mustn't jump to conclusions... right? But hold on!



The suspect who was shot dead as he carried out the attack was identified by the FBI [The same FBI that Leah Greeves works for? Ed.] as a 20-year-old Syrian-born college student. Adam Salim Alsahli -- for it was he -- lived in Corpus Christi and was a business major at a local community college. A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said Alsahli was a native of Syria who held American citizenship. How and when he got into the USA was not explained. [The word "refugee" springs to mind. Ed.]

Social media accounts matching Mr Alsahli's profile on Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp featured support for hardline Islamist clerics, mostly from Saudi Arabia, and jihadi figures such as Ibrahim al-Rabaysh, who had been a spokesman for AQAP (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) who was killed by a US drone strike in 2015.

(((Rita Katz))), director of the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors online activity of jihadists, claims that the late terrorist voiced support for hardline Islamic clerics on social media prior to the thwarted attack. She tweeted a translated version of a passage posted on Mr Alsahli's Twitter page, which read, "I love the Mujahidin [sic], I'm not one of them and my sword is aimed over the necks of whoever doubts them (stabs them)."

Nothing there like "Allahu akbar!", but I think was can say safely that Mr Alsahli was not on our side. He's been "neutralized" now, but there will be others....

Nonono! The CORPUS CHRISTI Naval Air Station... TODAY!

Seems like just yesterday [in fact it was day-before-yesterday. Ed.] that I drew your attention to the fact that the US government, in the person of Attorney General William Barr, conceded that the Saudi air force officer who shot up the Naval Air Station at Pensacola FL last June, killing three people and wounding another seven, was, in fact, an Islamic terrorist with links to AQAP (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Pensinsula).

Well, folks, it happened again. This morning. At the Naval Air Station at Corpus Christi TX. According to ABC News, the shooting unfolded at about 0615 CDT when a man sped through a gate, activating vehicle barriers which stopped the car. The driver then got out of the car and began shooting, wounding a security guard before being "neutralized" (military-speak for being shot dead).

A spokesthingy for the FBI tole the meeja, "We have determined that the incident this morning at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is terrorism related. They are working diligently with local, state and federal partners on the investigation, which is fluid and evolving." Wonder how they figured out it was "terrorism related"? Did someone hear the shooter yell "Alahu akbar!"?

The authorities have the shooter's car, obviously, but have not yet identified him. Not for publication, anyway. The FBI sez a second "person of interest may be at large." "May"? If you live in the vicinity, Walt suggests you keep your doors and windows locked, and beware of men who look like... errr... terrorists.

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.]