NEW YORK // Americans “will not be terrorised” by attacks in California likely inspired by ISIL, Barack Obama said on Saturday as he called on the US congress to finally pass more restrictive gun laws.
After the latest mass shooting in the United States, Republican senators refused to vote for a bill that would make it illegal for people on the US federal terrorism watch list to buy firearms.
“That is insane,” Mr Obama said in his weekly address on Saturday that focused on the shooting rampage by a husband and wife in San Bernardino that killed 14 people. “If you’re too dangerous to board a plane, you’re too dangerous, by definition, to buy a gun. And so I’m calling on Congress to close this loophole, now.”
The FBI announced on Friday that it was officially treating the massacre by Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, 27, as a terrorist attack, and US officials revealed that Malik had pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, ISIL’s leader, on Facebook as the attack was taking place. The couple died in a shoot-out with police hours after the shooting rampage at Farook’s office holiday party.
“The investigation so far has developed indications of radicalisation by the killers, and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organisations,” FBI director James Comey said on Friday. Mr Comey added that there was no evidence so far that the couple were directed by ISIL commanders or that they were part of a wider extremist network.
However, federal investigators in the US and abroad are continuing to search for any clues that the couple had been in contact or had relationships with any terrorist groups or individuals.
On Saturday, ISIL’s official radio station played a statement that claimed the San Bernardino shootings were carried out by two of the group’s “supporters”, but did not claim responsibility or say whether Farook and Malik had been directed by the extremists or were members.
Mr Obama had called for caution and had not labelled the shootings as a terrorist act until Saturday. The amount of weaponry and the dozens of home-made pipe bombs discovered at the couple’s home suggested that the massacre was premeditated, and the online evidence also indicates that it was more than workplace rage. The couple attempted to destroy their digital footprint, including smashing their mobile phones.
“We know that ISIL and other terrorist groups are actively encouraging people — around the world and in our country — to commit terrible acts of violence, often times as lone wolf actors,” Mr Obama said. “And even as we work to prevent attacks, all of us — government, law enforcement, communities, faith leaders — need to work together to prevent people from falling victim to these hateful ideologies.”
After the California shootings, American Muslims are bracing for an increase in threats to mosques, vandalism and physical assaults that were already on the rise after the Paris attacks along with Islamophobic rhetoric by Republican presidential candidates throughout their campaigns.
Mr Obama’s administration has tried to address these fears, with the attorney general Loretta Lynch on Thursday saying that those inciting violence against Muslims would be prosecuted. At least one Republican candidate taunted Ms Lynch.
Former New York governor George Pataki posted on Twitter: “We must declare war on radical Islam. @LorettaLynch I’m not edging toward violent speech, I’m declaring we kill them. Go Ahead, arrest me.”
Mr Obama and Democratic presidential candidates have been at pains to distinguish between violent extremists and Muslims.
In his address, Mr Obama called for unity, saying “That’s how we can send a message to all those who would try to hurt us. We are Americans. We will uphold our values — a free and open society. We are strong. And we are resilient. And we will not be terrorised.”
tkhan@thenational.ae