Just Because It's Trending Doesn't Mean It's True

CNN: San Bernardino Shooter Pledged Allegiance To ISIS Leader

  • by: Alan Duke
  • (Fri, 04 Dec 2015 15:34:05 Z)

San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik pledged her allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a Facebook posting, according to a CNN report quoted there unnamed law enforcement sources.

Malik, who was killed in a shoot-out with police hours after she and her husband Syed Rizwan Farook killed 14 people, posted the pledge to the ISIS leader on an account using a different name, one of the sources told CNN.

The Facebook posting is the first direct link between Malik, who was born in Pakistan and her husband.

CNN quotes source suggested the massacre of the holiday party for the county's public health department employees was inspired by ISIS, but not necessarily ordered by the terror group.

Another source said it is "looking more and more like self-radicalization," CNN reported.

Investigators have not ruled out that a factor in the attack was a workplace dispute around religion. Farook, who was born in Illinois, worked for the San Bernardino public health department.

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About the author:

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

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