Pensacola gunman was working with al Qaeda, FBI finds

Source: Politico | May 18, 2020 | Lara Seligman

The attorney general is faulting Apple for denying request to unlock iPhones.

The Saudi Air Force trainee who carried out a deadly attack on a military base in Pensacola, Fla., was working with al Qaeda operatives as far back as 2015, the FBI announced on Monday.

The bureau discovered the link between the terrorist group and Mohammed Alshamrani, a member of the Royal Saudi Air Force who killed three U.S. sailors and wounded several others on Dec. 6, after they broke the encryption on Alshamrani’s iPhones, Attorney General William Barr said. He lashed out at Apple for denying the government’s request to unlock the phones, which delayed the investigation by months, said Barr.

The evidence found on Alshamrani’s phone showed that he had “significant” ties to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, before he even arrived in the United States, U.S. officials said. Alshamrani was radicalized not while in the United States for training, but at least as far back as 2015, and he had been in touch with “dangerous” AQAP operatives ever since, FBI Director Christopher Wray told reporters.

The evidence “shows that the Pensacola attack was actually the brutal culmination of years of planning and preparation by a longtime AQAP associate,” said Wray.

Wray stopped short of saying al Qaeda directed the attack, but noted that Alshamrani had been coordinating with the group. He shared “plans and tactics,” including making pocket videos of his classroom building, said Wray.

“We know that he was coordinating with them and providing an opportunity for them to take credit for the attack,” said Wray.

AQAP has claimed responsibility for the attack and said they were in touch with the gunman.

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