| Curtis Culwell Center attack | |
|---|---|
 Curtis Culwell Center | |
 Interactive map of Curtis Culwell Center attack | |
| Location | 32°57′34″N96°38′31″W / 32.95956°N 96.64191°W /32.95956; -96.64191 Garland, Texas, U.S. |
| Date | May 3, 2015 (2015-05-03) 6:50 p.m. (UTC−05:00) |
| Target | American Freedom Defense Initiative exhibition |
Attack type | Shooting, terrorist attack |
| Weapons | Threesemi-automatic rifles:
Three handguns: |
| Deaths | 2 (both perpetrators) |
| Injured | 1 (security officer) |
| Perpetrators | Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi[1] |
| Motive | Islamic extremism, Retaliation fordepictions of Muhammad |
TheCurtis Culwell Center attack was a failed terrorist attack on an exhibit featuring cartoonimages of Muhammad at theCurtis Culwell Center inGarland, Texas, U.S. on May 3, 2015, which ended in a shootout with police guarding the event, and the deaths of the two perpetrators.[4] The attackers shot an unarmedGarland Independent School District (GISD) security officer in the ankle.[5][6] Shortly after opening fire, both attackers were shot by an off-duty Garland police officer and killed by SWAT.[7]
The FBI had been monitoring the two attackers for years, and an undercover agent was right behind them when the first shots were fired.[8] The injured security guard filed a lawsuit against the FBI in October 2017, claiming the FBI was partially responsible for his injuries.[6]
TheIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack plot, the first time the militant group took credit for an attack in the United States.[9][10][11][12] ISIL's claim of responsibility was not verified, and U.S. officials stated that the attack appears to have been inspired, but not directed, by ISIL.
An online ISIL persona run byinternet trollJoshua Ryne Goldberg had posted maps to the exhibition, and urged his followers to attack the event. Goldberg pleaded guilty to federal charges in December 2017. His persona was retweeted by one of the attackers on the morning of the attack, and Goldberg claimed responsibility for inciting the attack to multiple news outlets and in his plea agreement.[13][14][15][16][17]
| External image | |
|---|---|
 Bosch Fawstin's winning Muhammad cartoon[18] |
The event, which featuredimages of Muhammad, was advertised as the "First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest", presented by theAmerican Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), or Stop Islamization of America. It was organized by the AFDI together with theDavid Horowitz Freedom Center'sJihad Watch, run byRobert Spencer.[19] A $10,000 award was offered for the winning cartoon, which was selected from among 350 submissions. The prize was awarded toBosch Fawstin, a former Muslim and acritic of Islam who submitted six drawings, with the text "You can't draw me!"/"That's why I draw you."[18][20] He was to collect an award of $12,500.[21] Though images of Muhammad are not explicitly banned by theQuran,[citation needed] prominent Islamic viewsoppose human images, especially those of prophets. Such views have gained ground among certain militant Islamic groups.[22][23][24]
The event featured speeches byPamela Geller, president of the AFDI, and Dutch politicianGeert Wilders, party leader of theParty for Freedom and outspoken critic of Islam. CongressmenKeith Ellison andAndré Carson[25][26] had tried unsuccessfully to block Wilders from entering the United States.[27] At the time of the attack, the "First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest" exhibit was attended by approximately 150 people,[2] although the number was initially estimated at 200.[28]
The organizers of the event had paid over $10,000 to a total of forty off-duty police officers and private security guards.[5] TheFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), aSWAT team, theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and theTexas Department of Public Safety (DPS) were also brought in for the occasion of any possible incidents.[2][29] At the time, there was reportedly "no immediate credible threat" of an attack.[28]
Prior to the attack, ISIL had urged followers and sympathizers who were unable to join the fighting in theSyrian civil war to carry outjihad in their home countries.[9][30] Approximately three hours prior to the start of the contest, the FBI had alerted the Garland Police Department that a suspected extremist, identified as gunman Elton Simpson, was "interested in the event" and could show up there. However, FBI officials later clarified they had no reason to believe an actual attack would occur at the contest.[31][32][33] Officers later stated that they were not aware of the alert.[2][34]
The "First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest" event was hosted at theCurtis Culwell Center, rented from theGarland Independent School District. The center previously hosted a fundraiser in January called "Stand With the Prophet in Honor and Respect", which was organized to combat negative stereotypes of Islam.[35] Geller had spearheaded about 1,000 picketers at that event.[36][37]
Before the start of the "First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest", concerns were expressed by Garland citizens about the center hosting the event due to potential backlash and retaliation, a sentiment that had also been voiced prior to the "Stand With the Prophet in Honor and Respect" event. However, officials allowed both events to proceed as planned, since the school district was bound by a nondiscriminatory leasing policy. Garland ISD board president Rick Lambert said in January, "The Culwell Center is available for rental as long as you comply with the law. Because it is a public facility, the district is not allowed to discriminate based upon viewpoint."[37][38]
Minutes prior to the attack, a man, identified by police as one of the gunmen, posted a tweet with the hashtag #texasattack: "May Allah accept us asmujahideen." In his tweet, he said he and an accomplice had pledged allegiance to "Amirul Mu'mineen", which Paul Cruickshank of CNN said probably referred to ISIL leaderAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The user also asked his readers to followJunaid Hussain on Twitter. After the shooting occurred, Hussain tweeted: "Allahu Akbar!!!! 2 of our brothers just opened fire".[39]
Just before the event was set to end at around 7:00 p.m.,[28] two men wearing body armor and equipped with three rifles, three handguns, and 1,500 rounds of ammunition[2][40] drove up to a police car that was parked next to a barricade erected in front of the center. Seated inside the police car were Officer Gregory Stevens of the Garland Police Department and an unarmed Garland ISD security guard.[41] The two gunmen got out of their vehicle and fired dozens of rounds at the police car, shooting the Garland ISD security guard. The men were then shot and wounded by Stevens, and eventually killed by SWAT officers.[42][43] The Garland ISD officer, identified as 58-year-old Bruce Joiner, was shot in the ankle.[5][44] He was treated at a local hospital and confirmed to be released at 9:00 p.m.[45][46]
Authorities were worried that the suspects' car could contain an incendiary device; as a precaution, several nearby businesses were evacuated. Bomb units from the Garland Police Department, the FBI, the Plano Police Department, and theDallas/Fort Worth International Airport were called to the scene. Police cordoned off a large area and at least three helicopters circled overhead.[2][47] An officer in SWAT gear took the stage toward the end of the event and told attendees that a shooting had occurred, stating that one officer and two suspects had been shot.[48] It was later confirmed that there were no explosives inside the vehicle.[49] After the attack, Phoenix police began searching the two assailants' apartment.[49]
Elton Simpson (c. 1985 – May 3, 2015) and Nadir Hamid Soofi (c. 1981 – May 3, 2015), roommates living in an apartment inPhoenix, Arizona, were the assailants in the attack. Simpson was convicted of making a false statement about terrorism in 2011, and followed hacker and pro-ISIL propagandistJunaid Hussain on Twitter.[39][50] Simpson was an employee at a dentist's office, while Soofi was running a carpet cleaning business.[51] A third man, Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem (bornc. 1972), was responsible for housing Simpson and Soofi at his home, as well as supplying them with the firearms and ammunition used in the attack. According to an indictment, around June 2014, the three began conspiring to support ISIL and considered targeting a number of locations for terrorist attacks.[52][53][54]
Simpson was born inIllinois and raised in suburbanWestmont.[55] He moved to Phoenix at a young age.[56] He converted to Islam while attendingWashington High School. His lawyer described him as "particularly devout" and "entrenched in Islam", but said he did not seem to be a threat to anyone.[55][57] Simpson was a longtime worshiper at theIslamic Community Center of Phoenix, starting in approximately 2005, but according to the mosque's president, Usama Shami,[58] he stopped showing up months prior to the attack.[29][59][60][61][62][63] The mosque has been part of previous terrorism probes.[64] He attendedYavapai College inPrescott, Arizona, playing basketball for the college there.[65]
Simpson was the subject of an FBI investigation starting in 2006, during which he stated his intent to travel toSomalia and join fellowjihadists. He had ties toHassan Abujihaad, a former United States Navy sailor arrested in Phoenix and convicted of terrorism-related charges.[59] Abujihaad had been an occasional attendant of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix.[66]
In May 2009, Simpson told an FBI informant, "I'm telling you, man, we can make it to the battlefield. It's time to roll."[59] He was also recorded saying, "If you get shot, or you get killed, it's [heaven] straightaway. ... That's what we here for ... so why not take that route?"[59] In 2010, one day before Simpson was scheduled to travel to Somalia, he was arrested by federal agents as the result of a four-year investigation.[65] The Islamic Community Center of Phoenix posted cash bond of $100,000 to have him released from custody.[67] Simpson was found guilty of making a false statement regarding international and domestic terrorism, and was sentenced to three years probation and a $600 fine in August 2011 after lying to a federal agent about his travel plans. His lenient sentence was the result of U.S. District Court JudgeMary H. Murguia not finding sufficient evidence to conclude that he planned to join a terrorist organization.[20][39][68][69] He was put on the U.S. federalNo Fly List.[39] He had previously intended to travel with others toSyria to fight with ISIL, though his accomplices were arrested during simultaneous FBI raids inSan Diego andMinneapolis.[70] Authorities had already opened an investigation of Simpson at the time of the attack.[65]
He also interacted withJunaid Hussain, a British-born hacker and member of ISIL, andMujahid Miski, anAl-Shabaab recruiter and propagandist of Muslim extremism fromMinnesota, via Twitter through "secure communication". Hussain was also the founder of a pro-ISIL hacker group called "CyberCaliphate", which was responsible for a cyber-attack on theUnited States Central Command's Twitter account in January 2015.[71][72][73][74] A week prior to the attack, Simpson mentioned the "First Annual Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest" event in a tweet sent to what is believed to be Hassan's Twitter account. Simpson then asked, "When will they ever learn?", and Hassan responded: "The brothers fromtheCharlie Hebdo attack did their part. It's time for brothers in the #US to do their part."[73] Investigators believe Hussain and Hassan encouraged Simpson to commit an attack on U.S. soil, but also that Simpson assembled the attack plan and targeted the art exhibit on his own accord.[74]
Simpson was identified as the same user who posted atweet with thehashtag #texasattack: "MayAllah accept us asmujahideen."[39] The profile photo on #texasattack was of the late AmericanSalafi imamAnwar al-Awlaki, who had repeatedly called for violence against cartoonists who insulted the Islamic prophet Muhammad prior to being killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011 in Yemen.[75] Junaid Hussain was identified as the ISIL propagandist whom Simpson recommended his readers to follow in that same tweet.[73]
Soofi's father, Azam Soofi,[76] is Pakistani, and his mother, Sharon Soofi, is American.[39] According to his mother, he was born atPresbyterian Hospital of Dallas and lived in Garland until age three.[77] The family then moved toPlano, Texas, and thenAlabama.[78] His mother, who was raisedCatholic, converted to Islam at the request of his father.[59][78] Soofi was also raised as a Muslim by his father.[51] He and his brother moved to Pakistan with their father and stepmother after their parents were divorced in the 1990s. During his time there, Soofi attended theInternational School of Islamabad, where he was said by friends to have been popular among his classmates.[39][50]
In 1998, after living in Pakistan for six years,[79] Soofi moved back to the U.S. to live with his mother inUtah.[39][51][80] The two later moved to Phoenix in the mid-2000s.[78] According to his friends in Pakistan, he had difficulties adjusting to the American culture upon moving to the U.S.[80] He took apre-medical course at theUniversity of Utah starting in the fall semester of 1998, but dropped out in the summer of 2003.[51][78][81] At one point, he also owned Cleopatra Bistro Pizza, a pizza and hot wings eatery that servedhalal food, though the business struggled and eventually closed down five months prior to the attack.[81]
Soofi was arrested and charged for more than twenty minor offenses, most of them traffic violations.[51][82] In June 2001, when he was twenty, he pleaded guilty to possession of alcohol by a minor. In March 2002, he pleaded guilty to alcohol-related reckless driving, followed by another guilty plea in June 2002 for driving on a suspended license. In 2003, he was charged for distributing a controlled substance and possessing drug paraphernalia, although the case was later dismissed. That same year in July, Soofi pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge. The case was also dismissed.[30][82]
He was survived by his parents and an eight-year-old son from a failed marriage.[60][78][83][84][85] After the attack, his mother said her son was "brainwashed" by Simpson, claims that were echoed by his father[76] and maternal grandmother,[85] and that she did not blame police for killing her son.[86]
Abdul Kareem was born and raised inPhiladelphia as Decarus Lowell Thomas. In 2013, he changed his name to Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem and converted to Islam. He occasionally attended the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix since at least 2011 and cleaned carpets there. Kareem had a criminal record in Arizona, including two aggravated drunken driving convictions and an aggravated assault charge in 1997. In the latter incident, a woman told police that he pointed a gun in her direction; Abdul Kareem claimed he instead took the weapon away from his brother during an argument and wasn't pointing it at anyone.[87] He had been arrested a total of eleven times between 1991 and 2004, and also served jail time twice.[88]
Following the attack, he lied to FBI investigators several times and said he was not asked by Simpson or Soofi to directly participate in the attack.[52] However, according to a confidential informant, Kareem was indeed planning on participating with them and had been angry at the informant for not selling himsuppressors andbulletproof vests.[88] He allegedly attempted to fund the attack by feigning injuries inflicted after being struck by a car and then making an insurance claim based on the injuries.[54] Previously, Abdul Kareem was investigated by the FBI in 2012 for having a terrorism training document on his computer and developing a plot to attack theSuper Bowl XLIX game inGlendale, Arizona with pipe bombs.[54][87][88] He had also reportedly accessed a list released by ISIL, which contained the names and addresses of U.S. service members.[40]
He was arrested on June 11 and charged with "conspiracy, making false statements and interstate transportation of firearms with intent to commit a felony." According to an indictment, Kareem practiced shooting with Simpson and Soofi between January and May in Phoenix.[87][88] According to CNN, the firearms were all bought legally.[89] His trial was initially set for August 4, but it was later rescheduled for October 6.[88] On December 21, Abdul Kareem was also charged with conspiring to provide support to ISIL and attempting to attack the Super Bowl XLIX game.[53][54] On March 17, 2016, Kareem was found guilty of conspiring with terrorists for helping the attack's perpetrators plan to carry it out.[90] He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in February 2017. Kareem is serving his sentence atFCI Beaumont Medium, and is scheduled for release on November 20, 2041.
In addition to the gunman's tweet pledging allegiance to ISIL, the jihadist group claimed responsibility for the attack, stating on its Al Bayan radio station that "two soldiers of the Caliphate executed an attack on an art exhibit in Garland, Texas.... This exhibit was portraying negative pictures of the Prophet Mohammed."[86] It marked the first time ISIL took credit for an attack in the mainland U.S.[9] ISIL promised to launch further attacks in the future.[91] There was initially no evidence that ISIL had contact with the perpetrators, and law enforcement groups continued to investigate a possible link.[92] Some counterterrorism experts expressed doubts on the legitimacy of those claims, noting that ISIL has in the past claimed responsibility for attacks they actually had no involvement in.[30] One U.S. official said the attack was "certainly more than just inspiration" by ISIL.[92] A law enforcement official said the attack did "not appear to be a clear-cut case of a lone wolf, nor a pure case of someone directed by others to act"; instead, "it appears to be something in between the two extremes".[92] According to Defense SecretaryAshton Carter, the shooting was inspired, but not directed, by ISIL.[93][94]
In August 2015,Centcom announced that it had killedJunaid Hussain in a drone strike in Syria, due to his influence in motivatinglone wolf-style attacks.[95][96] U.S. officials reportedly had a strong desire to assassinate Hussain, listing him as the third-highest ISIL target on the Pentagon's "kill list" behindAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi andMohammed Emwazi.[97][98][99]
In December 2017, a Jewish-Americaninternet troll,Joshua Ryne Goldberg, from Florida, was convicted of planning the bombing of a 20159/11 memorial event inKansas City.[13] In his communications with an FBI informant, Goldberg claimed credit for inspiring the Garland attack.[13] Goldberg's fake Twitter persona using the name "Australi Witness" had posted a map of the Curtis Culwell Center and urged any in the area to attack "with your weapons, bombs, or knives". News reports about Goldberg's online persona calling for the Garland attack first brought Goldberg to the attention of the FBI. The FBI also found that Elton Simpson retweeted a message from Goldberg's Twitter handle on the morning of the attack.[14][100][101][102]
The attack was condemned by public officials like GovernorGreg Abbott[28] and U.N. Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon.[103] U.S. Secretary of Homeland SecurityJeh Johnson condemned the attack and warned Americans not to blame the Muslim community.[20] TheCouncil on American–Islamic Relations and Nasim Rehmatullah of theAhmadiyya Muslim Community condemned the event as hate speech but said that this did not justify the attack.[20][42] In the wake of the attack, the Garland Independent School District announced it would begin reviewing its policy for hosting events at the Curtis Culwell Center.[104]
Geller defended the contest as an expression of free speech and said that it was not intentionally provocative. She criticized the media for not defending the First Amendment, and pointed out that other religions have been similarly offended but do not react violently.[105] Geller later toldCNN that the shooting would not stop her and the AFDI from organizing similar events in the future.[106] She also said that the shooting demonstrated why the event is needed.[107] Commentators who defended the event includeEugene Volokh,[108]Alan Dershowitz,[109]Victor Davis Hanson,[110]Bret Stephens,[111] andRich Lowry.[112] Stephens said that criticism of the event wasvictim blaming,[111] while Derschowitz likened Geller toMartin Luther King Jr.[109] Texas SenatorJohn Cornyn also defended the contest as an expression of free speech.[113] Some right-wing commentators compared the attack to theCharlie Hebdo shooting, butCharlie Hebdo editor Gérard Biard rejected these comparisons, saying thatCharlie Hebdo is "not obsessed about" Islam in its satire.[114] ActivistJon Ritzheimer organized a protest for free speech during Friday prayers outside theIslamic Community Center of Phoenix where Simpson and Soofi had attended.[115]
Commentators who criticized the event for being unnecessarily provocative or dangerous includeDonald Trump,[116]Bill O'Reilly,[117] andGreta Van Susteren.[118] Garland Mayor Douglas Athas said he wished Geller had not chosen his town for her event and explained, "Her actions put my police officers, my citizens and others at risk. Her program invited an incendiary reaction. She picked my community, which does not support in any shape, passion or form, her ideology. (...) But at the end of the day, we did our jobs, we protected her freedoms and her life".[119]
ISIL supporters expressed their support for the attack online with postings on ISIL-affiliated websites.[120] On June 2, 2015,Boston police killed aRoslindale man armed with a military-style knife after the man charged at the officers.[121] The man hadplanned to assassinate Geller because of the contest, but became impatient and decided to target local police instead.[122] IslamistAnjem Choudary endorsed death threats against Geller while he debated her onHannity.[123] Bosch Fawstin, the winner of the cartoon contest, has also received numerous death threats.[124]
TheChicago Tribune reported on August 1 that Soofi, despite his long rap sheet, purchased a9 mm gun in 2010 at Lone Wolf Trading Co., one of the private companies encouraged by theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to sell weapons to persons who normally would not be legally allowed such purchases, an action that would later become theATF gunwalking scandal. TheTribune wrote that Soofi's purchase was initially put on a seven-day hold but that "for reasons that remain unclear, the hold was lifted after 24 hours, and Soofi got the 9-millimeter." The day after the attack, theU.S. Department of Justice sent an urgent firearms disposition request to Lone Wolf Trading Co. As of the date of theTribune's report, the FBI has not released any details of the guns used by Simpson and Soofi.[125]
The injured security guard, Bruce Joiner, filed a federal lawsuit in October 2017 against theFBI andDOJ.[note 1] Evidence submitted to court in previous cases confirm that an FBI undercover agent was in communication with the attackers and present at the Culwell Center during the attack.[6][8] When he saw the attack underway he attempted to flee and was promptly stopped at gunpoint by Garland police.[6][8] On December 21, 2018, US District Court JudgeKaren Gren Scholer dismissed Joiner's lawsuit on grounds ofsovereign immunity.[note 2]
