“An act of terrorism” were the exact words used yesterday by Mr Obama to describe San Bernardino rampage. In this mournful event, which took place last Wednesday 2/12/2015, fourteen people were killed and twenty-one wounded last Wednesday: “An act of terrorism”is not a trivial diagnose of the facts. If true, it might mean several things. Firstly, San Bernardino attack would be the worst terrorist episode that has taken place on American soil since 9/11. In addition , it would be the first time that an ISIL terrorist cell achieves its objective in The United States. And last but not least, it would open a new horizon wherein Obama could be forced to overhaul his fighting fundamentalist terrorism strategy. Down below, we explain known facts and some clues in which president’s speech seems to be was based on.
Facts
On Wednesday 2, at 10:59 am, two masked gunmen broke in San Bernardino’s Inland Regional Center, while a holiday party was being held. They dressed in tactical clothes and carried “assault-style” weapons, and hand-guns. Between 65 and 75 bullets were shot. The entire firing took less than four minutes. After killing 14 and wounding 21, the couple tried to escape from the police in a black Ford Expedition SUV, and a car chase started. The suspects were located at 3 pm, hardly four hours later , on East San Bernardino East Avenue. They were rapidly surrounded by special forces and an exchange of fire started. Extending for a minute, more than 380 bullets were shot by 23 officers and finally the murderers were gunned down.
The killers
Their names were Syed Rizwan Farook, the man, born in 1987, in Chicago, and Tashfeen Malik, his wife, born in 1988 in Pakistan. Farook grew up in Riverside, California, and attended La Sierra High School, graduating in 2004. Then, he went to California State University, San Bernardino, and received a bachelor’s degree in environmental health in 2010. Afterwards he had being working as a food inspector for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health ,for five years to the shooting day. Both, Farook’s relatives and friends alike have shown extremely surprised by the attack. According to them, he was a very devout Sunni Muslim. Most of them blame Farook’s wife of his radicalization.
At this moment, according to the official investigation, Malik would have been the thinking mind after the attack. Born in Pakistan 25 years ago, it is believed that she spent most part of her life in Saudi Arabia, where, allegedly, she would have radicalised. She returned to Pakistan to study pharmacy at Bahauddin Zakariya University and graduated in 2012. Malik and Farook first met on the internet and they got married in 2014 when Farook travelled to Saudi Arabia. Malik entered the United States on a K-1 (fiancée) visa with a Pakistani passport.
Who were the victims?
The fourteen killed people were all workers at San Bernardino Inland Regional Center, a government-funded not-for-profit public benefit corporation that provides services and programs to people with developmental disabilities and their families. The youngest was 26, the oldest 60. This is the unfortunate list: Shannon Johnson, 45, from Los Angeles; Bennetta Bet-Badal, 46, from Rialto; Aurora Godoy, 26, from San Jacinto; Isaac Amanios, 60, from Fontana; Larry Daniel Kaufman, 42, from Rialto; Harry Bowman, 46, from Upland; Yvette Velasco, 27, from Fontana; Sierra Clayborn, 27, from Moreno Valley; Robert Adams, 40, from Yucaipa; Nicholas Thalasinos, 52, from Colton; Tin Nguyen, 31, Santa Ana; Juan Espinoza, 50, Highland; Damian Meins, 58, from Riverside; and Michael Wetzel, 37, from Lake Arrowhead.
The investigation
Even though they didn’t mention it at first, from the beginning the police considered it was about a terrorist attack, since everything looked too well planned. When officer registered their house, they found more than 7.000 rounds of ammunition, twelve pipe bombs an tools that could have been used to make homemade explosives. The two hand guns were legally purchased by Farook in 2012, whereas the rifles were allegedly acquired by Enrique Marquez, a Farook ´s childhood friend, whose home has already been raided. These guns were voluntary altered by the couple who try to modify fire from semi-automatic to automatic mode, and also increase the capacity of their magazines.
Moreover, FBI has also found several clues, which have not been released yet, that would indicate Malik’s support and allegiance to ISIL. Although she tried to hide it, at least one post supporting ISIL’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been found on her Facebook profile. As for a recent interview to Farook’s father, published by the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Farook was “fascinated” by ISIL as well, and “hated” Israel.