“One Muslim does not represent an entire community.”
SAN BERNARDINO, California — Rahemaan Ali stood outside the Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah-Amer mosque in San Bernardino, still in disbelief that someone he knew was involved in Wednesday's mass shooting that claimed 14 lives.
"It's really shocking, I'm still not over it," the 18-year-old told BuzzFeed News on Thursday. "He never seemed suspicious, never spoke about anything political. If anything he was shy."
Ali was talking about about Syed Rizwan Farook, one of two shooters who stormed a social services center and gunned down a crowd of county workers attending a holiday party, killing 14 and injuring 21.
Syed Farook
KCBS-TV / Via Twitter: @CBSLA
Farook started attending the Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah-Amer mosque in San Bernardino about two years ago, Ali said. He would come a couple of times a week to pray; the last time he saw him at the mosque was three weeks ago. Farook had recently memorized the Koran, a feat not many can accomplish.
In 2014, he went to Saudi Arabia to marry a woman — identified by authorities as the second shooter, 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik — that he met online, Ali said. The couple would go on to have a baby daughter, but Ali never met them.
Farook also frequented the Islamic Center of Riverside for several years.
But although authorities say they have yet to determine a motive for Wednesday's attack, Ali said he is worried about the backlash Farook's actions will have on the local Muslim community. They've already had to call deputies because of death threats they've received on the phone.
A U.S. intelligence official unnamed official told the Associated Press Thursday that investigators are still attempting to determine if Farook became radicalized and if he was in contact with foreign terror groups after he communicated with extremists on social media who are under FBI scrutiny.
Earlier in the day, President Obama said "until all the social media and electronic information has been exploited, we're just not going to be able to answer" questions about the shooters' motives.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1YMbmoT
No comments:
Post a Comment