Post by Admin on Nov 28, 2016 23:35:54 GMT -8
(CNN)The Ohio State University student who carried out a knife attack on campus Monday said in a Facebook post he was "sick and tired" of seeing fellow Muslims "killed and tortured," according to federal law enforcement officials.
Investigators are examining Abdul Razak Ali Artan's Facebook page to determine whether the attack was terrorism, though law enforcement officials said it will take time to ascertain motive.
In a Facebook post shortly before the Monday morning rampage, the Somali immigrant urged America "to stop interfering with other countries, especially the Muslim Ummah," a term for Muslim people at large.
"By Allah, we will not let you sleep unless you give peace to the Muslims. You will not celebrate or enjoy any holiday."
Artan rammed his car into a group of people on the Columbus campus before exiting the car and charged at others with a knife. Eleven people were hospitalized as a result of the attack.
Ohio State Police Officer Alan Horujko shot Artan after he failed to obey orders to stop.
Authorities investigate the scene of the attack, where the assailant struck people with his vehicle and then cut them with a butcher knife.
In a news conference Monday, Ohio State President Dr. Michael V. Drake cautioned against jumping to conclusions when asked if the incident was terror-related or had anything to do with Ohio's Somali community, the second-largest in the country.
"We all know when things like this happen that there's a tendency sometimes for people to put people together and create other kinds of theories. We don't know anything that would link this to any community. We certainly don't have any evidence that would say that's the case," Drake said.
"What we want to do is really unify together and support each other; do our best to support those who were injured in their recovery, and then allow the investigation to take place."
What we know about the attacker
Artan was profiled in the school's student-run newspaper's "Humans of Ohio State" series in August. He had just transferred from Columbus State and said he was struggling to find a place to pray in peace on the large campus.
"I wanted to pray in the open, but I was scared with everything going on in the media. I'm a Muslim, it's not what the media portrays me to be. If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don't know what they're going to think, what's going to happen.
A community member who spoke to the attacker's family described them as shocked. The community member described Artan as a good kid. She confirmed Artan had just finished community college before starting this semester at Ohio State.
Artan was a legal permanent resident originally from Somalia, a US official said. He came to the country in 2014 with his family via Pakistan, a federal law enforcement official and a US official told CNN.
Artan left Somalia in 2007 with his family for Pakistan and they were admitted as refugees as part of a minority sect of Somalis, a senior administration official told CNN. Seven members of the family applied for refugee status in the United States and were admitted in 2014. Today, they are all legal permanent residents and green card holders.
Neighbor Stephanie Leper told CNN Artan's family occupies four units. Law enforcement vehicles arrived at the town homes sometime after 10 a.m. and took people away in "paddy wagons," she said.
Artan said reports of human rights abuses in Myanmar pushed him to a "boiling point." The United States, which suspended its last sanctions against the former military dictatorship this year, said it had expressed concerns about the treatment of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims.
"I can't take it anymore," he said in the post.
Read more: www.cnn.com/2016/11/28/us/ohio-state-university-active-shooter/index.html
Investigators are examining Abdul Razak Ali Artan's Facebook page to determine whether the attack was terrorism, though law enforcement officials said it will take time to ascertain motive.
In a Facebook post shortly before the Monday morning rampage, the Somali immigrant urged America "to stop interfering with other countries, especially the Muslim Ummah," a term for Muslim people at large.
"By Allah, we will not let you sleep unless you give peace to the Muslims. You will not celebrate or enjoy any holiday."
Artan rammed his car into a group of people on the Columbus campus before exiting the car and charged at others with a knife. Eleven people were hospitalized as a result of the attack.
Ohio State Police Officer Alan Horujko shot Artan after he failed to obey orders to stop.
Authorities investigate the scene of the attack, where the assailant struck people with his vehicle and then cut them with a butcher knife.
In a news conference Monday, Ohio State President Dr. Michael V. Drake cautioned against jumping to conclusions when asked if the incident was terror-related or had anything to do with Ohio's Somali community, the second-largest in the country.
"We all know when things like this happen that there's a tendency sometimes for people to put people together and create other kinds of theories. We don't know anything that would link this to any community. We certainly don't have any evidence that would say that's the case," Drake said.
"What we want to do is really unify together and support each other; do our best to support those who were injured in their recovery, and then allow the investigation to take place."
What we know about the attacker
Artan was profiled in the school's student-run newspaper's "Humans of Ohio State" series in August. He had just transferred from Columbus State and said he was struggling to find a place to pray in peace on the large campus.
"I wanted to pray in the open, but I was scared with everything going on in the media. I'm a Muslim, it's not what the media portrays me to be. If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don't know what they're going to think, what's going to happen.
A community member who spoke to the attacker's family described them as shocked. The community member described Artan as a good kid. She confirmed Artan had just finished community college before starting this semester at Ohio State.
Artan was a legal permanent resident originally from Somalia, a US official said. He came to the country in 2014 with his family via Pakistan, a federal law enforcement official and a US official told CNN.
Artan left Somalia in 2007 with his family for Pakistan and they were admitted as refugees as part of a minority sect of Somalis, a senior administration official told CNN. Seven members of the family applied for refugee status in the United States and were admitted in 2014. Today, they are all legal permanent residents and green card holders.
Neighbor Stephanie Leper told CNN Artan's family occupies four units. Law enforcement vehicles arrived at the town homes sometime after 10 a.m. and took people away in "paddy wagons," she said.
Artan said reports of human rights abuses in Myanmar pushed him to a "boiling point." The United States, which suspended its last sanctions against the former military dictatorship this year, said it had expressed concerns about the treatment of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims.
"I can't take it anymore," he said in the post.
Read more: www.cnn.com/2016/11/28/us/ohio-state-university-active-shooter/index.html
