for the new york times. she focuses on al qaeda and isis. you were talking today on twitter about the kind of m.o here if in fact this proves to be this woman posting this pledge of allegiance to abu bakr al baghdadi, just before the attack, that s actually not the first time something like that has happened. indeed it s not. the first time i think that has happened in the u.s. was when elton simpson, a young man from arizona, and his accomplice drove to garland, texas in may to attack the prophet muhammad cartoon competition that happened there. and literally i think in the minutes before that attack, just as you re seeing here, literally right before the attack in san bernardino, the young man took to twitter and he announced on twitter that he had pledged bayat, which is a term they use meaning a pledge of allegiance, to amir al mumanim, which is the term they use for baghdadi, the head of the islamic state. and that follows what we have seen of the islamic state where they have
has happened. indeed it s not. the first time i think that has happened in the u.s. was when elton simpson, a young man from arizona, and his accomplice drove to garland, texas in may to attack the prophet muhammad cartoon competition that happened there. and literally i think in the minutes before that attack, just as you re seeing here, literally right before the attack in san bernardino, the young man took to twitter and he announced on twitter that he had pledged bayat, which is a term they use meaning a pledge of allegiance, to amir al mumanim, which is the term they use for baghdadi, the head of the islamic state. and that follows what we have seen of the islamic state where they have told their followers in the west that in order to essentially carry out an attack in their name as lone wolves that really all they have to do is identify themselves as having pledged allegiance to the group right before carrying it out. obviously, we saw in paris the attacks carried out by isis
widely available, including in al qaeda s inspire magazine. so all you need really is an ethernet cable or a wi-fi connection and you are then able to just find these things online. and put together the pieces to be able to carry it out. we saw elton simpson in may. we ve now seen this attack in san bernardino. and don t forget that last year in canada we had two back-to-back lone wolf-style attacks, one that was on the parliament, another that was a drive-by car accident that again had very similar elements of people that seemed to be radicalized, taking it upon themselves to do an act of violence. part of the challenge i would imagine for counterterrorism officials in this situation is exactly what you said at the beginning. if you re dealing with a couple who are only speaking to themselves about what they re doing, if you re talking about a lone individual or in the case of boston the two brothers,
the core. these days in order to get in touch with the islamic state all you need to do is have a twitter account. i ve been able to speak to them. other reporters have been able to speak to them. and certainly americans, young americans have been radicalized just by getting in touch with them over twitter. once you are in their pipeline, you are then exposed to a series of propaganda messages that essentially teach you that as a muslim it is your duty to inflict harm on the infidels, meaning the rest of us, and they give you the tools to do that. the pipe bombs that you re describing that were found in the garage and that used the ignition that we saw during the boston marathon bombs, that i believe is a recipe that is widely available, including in al qaeda s inspire magazine. so all you need really is an ethernet cable or a wi-fi connection and you are then able to just find these things online. and put together the pieces to be able to carry it out. we saw elton simpson in may.
the garage and that used the ignition that we saw during the boston marathon bombs, that i believe is a recipe that is widely available, including in al qaeda s inspire magazine. so all you need really is an ethernet cable or a wi-fi connection and you are then able to just find these things online. and put together the pieces to be able to carry it out. we saw elton simpson in may. we ve now seen this attack in san bernardino. and don t forget that last year in canada we had two back-to-back lone wolf-style attacks, one that was on the parliament, another that was a drive-by car accident that again had very similar elements of people that seemed to be radicalized, taking it upon themselves to do an act of violence. part of the challenge i would imagine for counterterrorism officials in this situation is exactly what you said at the beginning. if you re dealing with a couple who are only speaking to themselves about what they re