This Just In: Female Shooter Pledged Allegiance to ISIS
Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021.
CNN and NBC News are reporting, citing multiple U.S. officials and law-enforcement sources, that Tashfeen Malik, the wife of Syed Rizwan Farook, swore allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, on the morning the couple killed 14 people at a social-services center in San Bernardino, California. Both news organizations say the pledge was made on Facebook. One of CNN’s three sources said the Facebook account was under a different name, but the source did not specify how (s)he knew the account belonged to Malik. The Atlantic has not independently verified these reports. Update: More here