That significantly altered the public understanding of how the couple plotted their rampage and what might have been done to stop them.
Advertisement
Despite the FBI’s revelation that neither Malik nor Farook posted public commitments to jihadist terrorism, the two were heavily radicalized and slipped through the government’s security cracks to perpetrate their attack.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Ms. Malik had talked openly about jihad on social media before she applied for a visa to come to the United States.
Authorities are working to trace the electronic trail of the killers in an attempt to find out whom they interacted with, how they hatched and carried out the plot, and why. Previous reports claimed they were inspired by the Islamic State, but that has yet to be confirmed. The shooters were “showing signs in that communication of their joint commitment to jihad and to martyrdom”.
Comey stressed that Americans should not be “jittery” following these new reports.
Malik was interviewed by USCIS after marrying Farook. Lawyers involved in the case said they were unaware of a direct connection.
Top officials at the Department of Homeland Security considered a specific policy to strengthen security screenings for foreign visa applicants’ social media accounts, but the proposal was ultimately not adopted, according to an internal department memo obtained by MSNBC. “It is political correctness”. Neighbors say the two young men would spend hours at a time dismantling and repairing cars on the driveway of Farook’s house. Comey said that the service is used to transmit “trillions” of messages, indicating that it is ubiquitous and well known to law enforcement.
Comey previously testified that in the messages the Federal Bureau of Investigation was able to recover in the days after the attack, the couple was talking to each other about extremism, but today marked the director’s first reference to the messages being private. Please see our terms of service for more information. Comey also said the evidence he was describing dated back to late 2013.
The day after the attack, Facebook found a post on a page maintained by Malik pledging her and Farook’s allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group.
Information from Reuters was included in this story.
Advertisement
The two articles prompted critics of the Obama administration to say that officials had not done enough to catch potential terrorists and safeguard the U.S. He said, “I think that’s the way we want it”.
