As Twitchy reported, the FBI announced Wednesday that an officer with the Metro Transit Police Department had been arrested for purchasing technology-related items, allegedly to help to ISIS operatives evade authorities while communicating with each other.
Secretary of State John Kerry might really believe that recent terrorist attacks like those in Germany are a sign that ISIS is “on the run,” but it certainly doesn’t appear that way. Germany’s Der Spiegel newspaper reported Tuesday that investigations into two recent incidents suggest that ISIS is very much involved with what might have initially appeared to be “lone wolf” attacks.
1. "Evidence is mounting" terrorists in Ansbach & Wurzburg "acted on instructions from the Islamic State."https://t.co/sA6qj3FpmH
— Thomas Joscelyn (@thomasjoscelyn) August 2, 2016
For example, officials who searched the refugee hostel where Ansbach suicide bomber Mohammad Daleel lived (along with other widows and orphans?) found “chemicals used to make bombs, light bulbs to be used as detonators and a roll of cash with 50 euro bills … two mobile phones, multiple SIM cards and a laptop that had an Islamic State propaganda video with beheading scenes saved on it.”
And much like the two men who killed a priest in France and took hostages at a Catholic church, Daleel had recorded a video in which he swore his allegiance to Iraqi ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, which ISIS then posted in celebration of the attack.
Thomas Joscelyn of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies added his two cents to Der Spielgel’s report.
2. Spiegel reports what I noted right away. They got their videos to #IS before acting:https://t.co/RmaP15oy2t https://t.co/7ookxw2CCv
— Thomas Joscelyn (@thomasjoscelyn) August 2, 2016
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3. Same goes for terrorists in Normandy. Another video sent to Amaq (#IS) before the terrorists acted:https://t.co/JRSzgAU5H5
— Thomas Joscelyn (@thomasjoscelyn) August 2, 2016
4. Spiegel: Würzburg terrorist in "contact w/ a person in the Middle East who is believed to be linked to IS."
— Thomas Joscelyn (@thomasjoscelyn) August 2, 2016
5. Authorities analyzed "partly encrypted computer storage devices." Wurzburg terrorist sent "his video…to IS via Facebook."
— Thomas Joscelyn (@thomasjoscelyn) August 2, 2016
Wurzburg is where a 17-year-old from Afghanistan attacked passengers on a train with an ax and a knife before he was shot by police.
A map obtained by NBC News from a White House briefing that shows the expansion of ISIS around the globe seems to conflict with Kerry’s premise that the JV team is on the run. Coincidentally, Amaq, the news channel of ISIS, released its own infographic that also seems to call Kerry’s conclusion into dispute.
#Amaq infographic in English: 59 "martyrdom operations" in July in Iraq, Syria & Libya. Posted Arabic yesterday. pic.twitter.com/BQMAsP2FQy
— Thomas Joscelyn (@thomasjoscelyn) August 2, 2016
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