‘Let America Know A New Era’: ISIS Praises San Bernardino Shooters With Sickening Hashtag #America_Burning
ISIS is praising the horrific San Bernardino shooting with a special hashtag #America_Burning. A number of Islamic State followers took to a popular web forum for the extremists to praise God for bringing hell to America and for spreading fear into the homes of “the Crusaders.” ISIS has not taken responsibility for any of the attacks directly in any of the forum messages. However, they did call the shooters “lions” that “made us proud.”
Vocativ first reported on the startling series of tweets on a popular Islamic State messaging forum on Twitter. When scanning the forum for talk of the San Bernardino shooting, a hashtag, #America_Burning, was uncovered. The hashtag referenced the mass shooting and praised God for the horrible act. The Islamic State followers seemed overjoyed that the California streets were “full of soldiers with heavy weapons” and that the event would “let America know a new era.”
Here are a few of the posts from ISIS supporters sporting the hashtag #America_Burning.
“Three lions made us proud. They are still alive. California streets are full with soldiers with heavy weapons. The Unites States is burning #America_Burning #Takbir”
“God is the greatest. May god spread fear in the homes of the Crusaders.”
“Let America know a new era #California #America_burning.”
It seems that the social media website Twitter isn’t taking any chances with the users posting praises to the shooter online. Many of the posts utilizing the hashtag #America_Burning have been removed and the users suspended from the forum. Though many of the users have been washed from the website, that hasn’t stopped the hashtag from continuing to spread. In fact, many ISIS sympathizers are continuing to post to the hashtag.
#??????_????? ???? ???? ????? ????? ???? ?? ?? ??? ?? 30 ?? ????? ????? ??? ?? ??? ????????? ?????? ??????????.
— ???? ??? ????? (@abo_oubayda) December 2, 2015
According to the Daily Mail, though ISIS has not taken responsibility for the San Bernardino shooting, authorities are still looking for a possible link to the terror group, as the two shooters were Muslim and had recently visited the Middle East. One of the shooters, Syed Farook, 28, had recently traveled to Saudi Arabia where he met the second shooter, his wife 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik. The pair allegedly spoke online before Farook traveled to Saudi Arabia and wed the woman. The pair also reportedly had a child together.
The police say they are still looking into the motive, but that the attack seemed planned, as the couple came fully armed and their home was a “pipe bomb factory.” The San Bernardino shooting marks the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and has left 14 dead, with dozens others injured.
Though the police have not released the motive for the crime, noting it could be workplace violence or terrorism, they say they will “leave no stone unturned” and that if Farook had contact with ISIS members or any other terrorists organization, they will find out.
“This is what we do. If he has ever communicated with ISIS, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, or any other known Islamic threat group, we’ll find out.”
What do you think about the police claiming they do not have an official motive for the pre-meditated mass shooting? Do you think the authorities are treading lightly before using the word “terrorism” since the shooters were reported as Muslim or could this be an extreme case of workplace violence?
[Image via Twitter]
