The FBI‘s initial claim Saturday that the Texas synagogue hostage-taker was not motivated by antisemitism is just the latest example of the bureau refusing to state the obvious about incidents perpetrated by Muslim extremists.

The FBI a day later acknowledged the motivation of Malik Faisal Akram, who held four people, including a rabbi, hostage at a Jewish house of worship north of Dallas. But the initial reluctance drew online mockery, and served as an echo of several past incidents, including the 2009 attack at Fort Hood, the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, and the 2016 mass stabbing attack at the Ohio State University. In each case, the assailants had publicly articulated their motivations before or during their attacks.