The gunman in a deadly attack at a military base in Pensacola, Florida, last December was meticulous in his planning and had been radicalized overseas for at least five years, U. S. officials said Monday.
By ERIC TUCKER
The gunman who killed three U. S. sailors at a military base in Florida last year repeatedly communicated with al-Qaida operatives about planning and tactics in the months leading up to the attack, U. S. officials said Monday, as they lashed out at Apple for failing to help them open the shooter’s phones so they could access key evidence.
Law enforcement officials discovered contacts between Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani and operatives of al-Qaida after FBI technicians succeeded in breaking into two cellphones that had previously been locked and that the shooter, a Saudi Air Force officer, had tried to destroy before he was killed by law enforcement.
“We now have a clearer understanding of Alshamrani’s associations and activities in the years, months and days leading up to his attack,” Attorney General William Barr said at a news conference in which he sharply chastised Apple for not helping open the phones.
The new details, including that Alshamrani had been radicalized abroad before he arrived in the U. S., raise fresh questions about the vetting of Saudi military members and trainees who spend time at American bases. The announcement also comes amid tension with the U. S. over instability in the oil market during the coronavirus pandemic and as the Trump administration faces criticism that it has not done enough to hold the kingdom, which has been trying to improve its international image, accountable for human rights violations.
The criticism directed at Apple could also escalate divisions between the U. S. government and the technology company, which rejected the characterization that it has been unhelpful. The company said Monday that it does not store customers’ passcodes, does not have the capacity to unlock passcode-protected devices and that weakening encryption could create vulnerabilities that damage national secuity and data privacy.
Alshamrani was killed by a sheriff’s deputy during the Dec. 6 rampage at a classroom building at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
