ISIS extremists began celebrating the mass shooting in San Bernardino hours after the massacre, creating the hashtag #America_Burning, Vocativ discovered. The Islamic State, however, did not take credit for the shootings in the ghoulish postings.
Vocativ deep web analysts used our technology to discover the sickening ISIS posts on web forums where the extremists frequently share information.
“Three lions made us proud. They are still alive,” one ISIS adherent tweeted in Arabic after the shootings at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. “California streets are full with soldiers with heavy weapons. The Unites States is burning #America_Burning #Takbir”
“God is great and he the one to be praised for that,” another supporter posted in the forum in Arabic. “This is hell with god’s will.” But the hashtag was primarily used on Twitter where one ISIS extremist taunted the United States with a tweet that read “Let America know a new era #California #America_burning.”
Another ISIS supporter posted in reference to the shooting on Twitter, “God is the greatest. May god spread fear in the homes of the Crusaders.”
Multiple shooters opened fire at a center for the disabled in San Bernardino, California on Wednesday. Fourteen people were killed and at least 17 wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
A massive manhunt for the suspects ended in a shootout that left two suspects dead, a man and a woman. A third person was arrested. A police officer was also wounded in the gun battle, but his injuries are not life threatening.
One of the suspects was identified by multiple sources as Syed Farook. He’s believed to have worked at the San Bernardino County Public Health Department, which held a holiday party at the center where the shooting took place on Wednesday.
Farook’s father said his son was a “very religious” Muslim. “He would go to work, come back, go to pray, come back,” the father told the New York Daily News.
Later in the day, Farook’s brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, spoke to reporters during a press conference organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “I cannot express how sad I am for what happened today,” he said. “My condolences to the people who lost their lives. I am in shock that something like this could happen.”