“We extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the honorable service members and police officers who were victims of the shooting our son committed on Thursday”. Yes, they were soldiers, wearing uniforms that marked them, in the eyes of certain groups and individuals, as the servants of a corrupt western government. Abdulazeez also described ISIS as a “stupid group” whose actions were “completely against Islam”, Petty added.
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In fact, the situation was so bad that Abdulazeez’s family kept calling him to check his whereabouts. Because we spend a whole lot more deploying drones and tracking the movements of radical Muslims overseas than we spend on basic research here at home.
The USA military has outlined security upgrades for recruiting stations, reserve centers and other facilities after Thursday’s fatal shootings in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a military spokesman says. But two significant pieces of the puzzle are missing: Why did he ambush two military sites, killing four Marines and a sailor? Such “lone wolf” attacks by militant, radicalised US Muslims acting on their own pose a greater risk to the country than a large-scale operation, President Barack Obama has said. However, officials stress that the Jordanian investigation is in its early stages.
“Shootings investigated as act of terror”, CNN blared.
Having said this, now is the time to reflect on the victims and their families, and we feel it would be inappropriate to say anything more other than that we are truly sorry for their loss.
A family representative said Monday the Federal Bureau of Investigation also recovered personal writings from his house that were depressive and contained extremist views. What if the proximate cause of his homicidal eruption was not the skilled manipulation of some ISIS recruiter or some cunningly honed digital call to arms, but simply a short circuit in the shooter’s brain? Moreover, Abdulazeez was said to have abused various types of drugs, both prescription and recreational, and to have been in significant financial debt at the time of his death.
The New York Times, citing a USA intelligence official, reported Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez wrote about suicidal thoughts and “becoming a martyr”.
The family representative said Abdulazeez’s family sought, without success, to get him treatment for his mental illness, and to keep him away from a group of friends with whom he would drink and smoke marijuana.
Just before the shooting, Abdulazeez was struggling with a job at a manufacturing plant with 12-hour overnight shifts, and was taking sleeping pills so he could fall asleep during the day.
Abdulazeez’s only known brush with the law was in April, when he was arrested for driving under the influence. He had faced a July 30 court date.
There was evidence that he came from a troubled family.
Isaac Pierce watches his mother, Stefanie Pierce, as she…
The reasons for Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez’s stopover in the Qatari capital Doha or the duration of his stay are still unknown, reports Reuters.
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Going into the weekend, more details emerged about Abdulazeez, a University of Tennessee engineering graduate and mixed martial arts enthusiast who grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. On a resume posted on Indeed.com, he listed three jobs since 2010, all internships. The FBI is investigating whether he was radicalized during that seven month trip.
