FBI chief: California attackers radicalised before dating
December 09, 2015 23:34
The husband and wife who killed 14 people in an attack on a year-end holiday party in San Bernardino, California were radicalised before they started dating online, FBI Director James Comey said today.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's terror probe has determined that US-born Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a Pakistani national, were inspired by foreign terror groups and discussed "jihad and martyrdom" as early as 2013, Comey said.
The investigation "indicates that they were actually radicalised before they started courting or dating each other online," Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing.
"And online, as early as the end of 2013, they were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom before they became engaged and then married and lived together in the United States.
"We also believe they were inspired by foreign terror organisations," Comey said.
The Islamic State group hailed the perpetrators and called them soldiers of the caliphate.
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