The Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attempted attack on a Texas event showing cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
The terror group’s Al Bayan radio station said Tuesday that “two soldiers of the caliphate” carried out Sunday’s attack at the event in the Dallas suburb of Garland — and promised more such attacks in the future.
Recommended Stories
The two gunmen, identified as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, were shot dead after opening fire at the conclusion of the cartoon event put on by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a group considered anti-Muslim by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are considered blasphemous by many Muslims.
One security guard was wounded, but not fatally.
Though it is unclear if the two men are from the Middle East — where the Islamic State has captured territory in many parts of Iraq and Syria — and were told by the group what to do, or if they had simply pledged allegiance to the group prior to the attack and then carried it out.
This is the first attack in the United States claimed by the Islamic State, though it frequently calls for attacks against it.
The Islamic State’s statement was read on the Al Bayan radio, which is based in the Syrian city of Raqqa, the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate capital.
“We tell … America that what is coming will be more grievous and more bitter and you will see from the soldiers of the Caliphate what will harm you, God willing,” the radio statement said.
(h/t the Associated Press)
