Do you think the two terrorists were connected to a larger cell??

[kentuck]

The FBI Director said there was no reason to believe that they were.

I tend to think they may have been.

Otherwise, why so many bombs and ammunition? At the very least, they thought they were going to get away with their dirty deed to continue other bombings, etc. They had more than two people could carry.

Also, if the husband terrorist left the meeting angry, wouldn't he have been a suspect from the get-go? We would have to assume they thought they were going to get away.

For me, it doesn't add up unless there were more folks involved.

Just my opinion.

[dumbcat]

1. Yes. nt

[B2G]

2. I think so. How many is the question. nt

[KT2000]

3. I think they were lone actors

they were screw-ups

[MowCowWhoHow III]

4. Possibly

And if so, I hope we find out procedurally rather than kinetically.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

5. He may not have been a police suspect from the get-go, but he sure as hell was on Twitter...

I was monitoring the live Twitter feed during the attacks and Farouk's name was mentioned very early on. So, someone on the inside let someone on the outside know who it was and then that person (or the original source) either posted his name to Twitter (or some other social channel). And it was even suspected to be a hoax name before it firmed up as fact.

[trumad]

6. Lone actors who jumped the gun

I think they were lone actors inspired by ISIS--- something at work set them off and I think it set them in motion a bit earlier than they wanted.

Look---they killed 14 people so they were pretty successful in their destruction. But I think as terrorists they were pretty lousy.

Adam Lanza killed 26 people at Sandyhook and they didn't he wasn't classified as a terrorist.

[kentuck]

13. I think people do acts such as this out of desperation...

I think ISIS is desperate and they wanted to set off something big in the US. I agree that they did it a bit earlier than they wanted.

These two people were operatives, imo.

[Glitterati]

43. I agree

There was something much larger planned, someone at work ticked him off and they jumped the gun on the Christmas party.

That party was NEVER the intended target.

Others involved? Who knows?

[newblewtoo]

7. I agree

they could be part of a larger cell. One thing which keeps rolling around in my mind is the way they were dressed. They were dressed for success not suicide and were possibly going back to finish the job by blowing the RC bomb once the hall was filled with emergency personnel. Classic 'two-fer' and time worn strategy.

[hifiguy]

8. The could be self-radicalized outliers

like the London subway bombers.

Hard to say without much more information.

[Warren Stupidity]

9. nope. I think most likely they were acting on their own.

[elias49]

10. No.

[Matrosov]

11. Definitely

They were far better organized that most recent shooters.

They knew how to build IEDs.

The ATF and FBI responded almost immediately, which usually doesn't happen unless they were already watching you.

Syed Farook's name was mentioned almost immediately, then retracted, as if law enforcement did not want to tip off any people connected to him.

[Dems to Win]

12. Yes.

Who bought the two rifles? How did they pay for all that bomb making stuff?

What did they do in the four hours between the shooting and the police seeing them pulling in to the apartment? Were they alone?

I'm not at all convinced that they were the only two shooters. Hope law enforcement has some surveillance cams that truly show these two were the only participants in the shooting.

If she made a FaceBook post during the shooting, that would say she was out in the car, the getaway driver, and there was at least one, possibly two, shooters beside her husband.

All kinds of stuff not adding up here.

[kentuck]

14. It definitely doesn't add up.

And does anyone think the FBI would leave a shredded document in a trash can in the apartment??

[flamingdem]

16. That made no sense nt

[MohRokTah]

15. I seriously doubt it.

I think they were planning on hitting a bigger target, such as a mall on a weekend closer to Christmas, but then a couple weeks ago the guy got pissed off at his anti-Muslim co-worker and decided to move up the time table and change the target.

I don't think it was coordinated with any other group because it would have gone down more like Paris had it been. 9/11 proved if you hit multiple targets with multiple groups within minutes of each other, Americans go stone cold nuts.

[kentuck]

17. Also, does anyone expect the FBI and the government to tell everything they know...?

In situations like this?

They are not beyond diversions and deceptions.

[Throd]

18. Probably.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

19. Which one? The NRA or Gun Owners of America? nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

20. They have likely associated with other people who think like they do n/m

[Generic Other]

21. I am trying to put this in perspective

During the Bush years, I was radicalized (not violently but as a peace activist dangit!!) by DU. On the other hand, this does not mean everyone here would have backed some harebrained scheme I might have had to overthrow the gov. Earl G. and Skittles would have kicked my ass. So I would have been a lone wolf with a few hundred DUers putting me on ignore. I think to be that low level of cell means you need other low level folks to egg you on. Most of the time, it's all talk. When they started stockpiling crap, the talk got more serious. So I do wonder if there are more low level flunkies out there. My sense is most of them are not going to do more than our domestic nutcases. That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous or incapable though, does it?

I have known you Kentuck long enough to know you are not a stranger to the history of hate groups and the warped psychology of fanatics in America.

I concur with your opinion. Your two cents and mine make a lot more cents!

[kentuck]

25. Hey!

[HereSince1628]

22. well there might be -some- connection...certainly captured in metadata

A sanitarian who wants to learn bomb making probably has on-line links rather than a subscription to RAMPARTS magazine which is where the angry people in my generation learned that sort of thing.

[1939]

23. IMHO part of a larger group planning something big

but Farook got pissed and decided on prematurely going off at an independent target.

[kentuck]

24. And his wife went along with him?

It's possible.

However, with the bomb-making operation that they had going, I think they probably had a small network they were working with.

[1939]

33. Yes

They were a part of something big, but he prematurely triggered it because of his individual and personal hatred. Whether she just went along or egged him on can never be known. Possibly short circuited a larger and more deadly plan through his own ego. No proof, no references, just supposition.

[951-Riverside]

26. Could the John Samir Zawahri shootings and Faisal Mohammad stabbings in California be connected?

[ManiacJoe]

27. Your OP gives a good reason to think they acted alone.

they thought they were going to get away with their dirty deed to continue other bombings, etc.

With better planning, they might have lived a few days longer, at a minimum.

[TeeYiYi]

28. Yes.

I think the plan was originally bigger but he allowed emotion to enter in with his disdain for the "Messianic Jew." I mean, seriously,... his name flew to the very TOP of the suspect list because of his known interactions with that man.

I think his wife assumed they'd gotten away clean to terrorize another day... Oops. Your husband wanted revenge and blew your cover, days if not weeks ago.

Definitely, there were other terrorists involved in an initially larger plot that fizzled after 'only' 14 dead. And thank gawd for the 'Messianic Jew' or we'd be counting who knows how many bodies... because, they weren't suicide bombers. They were planning to get away and detonate bombs from a distance.

TYY

[LiberalArkie]

29. They were planning on getting away with it. But they made a crucial mistake in that

they did not get out of the rented car and back to their personal vehicle quick enough. If they had kept the house clean and did their bomb making in a storage building they could have driven home in their personal vehicle and be sitting at home watching it al on TV when the police dropped by.

But like a lot of dim bulbs, they got close but not close enough to pulling off the terror attack. I don't think the terror organizations will ever find enough home town Americans that will ever be willing to blow themselves up or sacrifice themselves like the folks overseas.

[951-Riverside]

32. +1000.

I thought this was a possibility too especially since they wore masks and didn't do any other attacks

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027407703

[kydo]

30. No. Lone wolfs just like the other mass murders from the USA.

They may have been inspired to do what they did by ISIS. But that is the same thing as being inspired to terrorize people at a Planned Parenthood because they were radicalized by right wing hate media. Or one goes to a church and shoots all the black people cause said person was inspired by the KKK.

All the same, they are all terrorists. No difference because of their, skin color, religion or point of view. They are sick people with lots of guns all of them.

[Politicalboi]

31. To me, this looks more work related

He was angry with people at work, and that's who he killed. ISIS in Paris killed people they didn't know. It's an act of terror, but not terrorist. Anyone can say they belong to ISIS.

[1939]

34. Then why all the pipe bombs?

If he was just going shoot up people who had dissed Islam at work?

[kentuck]

36. Excellent point!

There was a bigger plan.

[awoke_in_2003]

35. Let's say they are...

and the FBI suspects it. It would not be prudent for them to admit that fact- it could screw up the investigation. They can't give away information that would help them.

[kentuck]

37. Exactly!

Correct.

[awoke_in_2003]

38. I had people blowing up about this

on my FB page, convinced that the FBI must be covering up something. In today's internet world, everybody want everything right the hell now. Too bad the real world doesn't work like that.

[kentuck]

39. They forgot how Obama went to some political event...

....and was laughing and joking even as they were raiding a house in Pakistan to kill Osama Bin Laden.

[awoke_in_2003]

40. If I ever got the money...

I would leave this place (the US) behind. We are becoming an insane country. Somewhere in Scandinavia, if I could swing it. Sure, it is cold, but there is some semblance of sanity there.

[GeorgeGist]

48. You mean this event?

[KamaAina]

41. Do you think the Columbine shooters were connected to a larger cell??

Otherwise, why so many bombs and ammunition?

[kentuck]

42. Don't remember the pipe bombs from Columbine?

My memory is not so good at my age.

[KamaAina]

44. Here you go.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre

The Columbine High School massacre or simply Columbine was a school shooting that occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County in the state of Colorado. In addition to the shootings, the complex and highly planned attack involved a fire bomb to divert firefighters, propane tanks converted to bombs placed in the cafeteria, 99 explosive devices, and bombs rigged in cars.

[melman]

45. Yes

[840high]

46. Yes. Something triggered

him too early. Bigger things were planned.

[bigwillq]

47. Likely.

It will be interesting to see how this story unfolds.

[ScreamingMeemie]

49. Nope. I also think the whole story sounds screwy and suspect.

Can't have another homegrown terrorist who took an argument (that appears to have been ongoing) way too far. I think it was basically "going postal" to the nth degree.