Obama Administration Policy Led To Homeland Security Not Checking Social Networking Pages Of Terrorists Coming Into America

Barack Obama

A policy implemented by U.S. President Barack Obama, barred Homeland Security from searching social media in vetting visa applications. In the wake of the San Bernardino terrorist shooting that left 14 defenseless, innocent people dead and 20 injured, questions are being asked regarding why Obama banned Homeland Security from accessing the social media pages of immigrants, such as Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband, Syed Farook, went on to commit the San Bernardino terrorism based killings.

Tashfeen Malik and Syed Farook

Malik’s social networking pages bore the signs of radicalization. According to reports, there are others seeking entry into the United States who harbor pro-terrorism leanings, as evidenced by posts on their social networking pages espousing sport for terrorists and extremism. However, Homeland Security is claiming its hands are tied due to Obama’s policy.

STORY SOURCE

Secret US Policy Blocks Agents From Looking at Social Media of Visa Applicants, Former Official Says 

Dec 14, 2015, 7:18 AM ET - Fearing a civil liberties backlash and "bad public relations" for the Obama administration, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson refused in early 2014 to end a secret U.S. policy that prohibited immigration officials from reviewing the social media messages of all foreign citizens applying for U.S. visas, a former senior department official said.

"During that time period immigration officials were not allowed to use or review social media as part of the screening process," John Cohen, a former acting under-secretary at DHS for intelligence and analysis. Cohen is now a national security consultant for ABC News. One current and one former senior counter-terrorism official confirmed Cohen's account about the refusal of DHS to change its policy about the public social media posts of all foreign applicants.

A spokesperson for the DHS, Marsha Catron, told ABC News that months after Cohen left, in the fall of 2014, the Department began three pilot programs to include social media in vetting, but current officials say that it is still not a widespread policy. A review of the broader policy is already underway, the DHS said.

The revelation comes as members of Congress question why U.S. officials failed to review the social media posts of San Bernardino terrorist Tashfeen Malik. She received a U.S. visa in May 2014, despite what the FBI said were extensive social media messages about jihad and martyrdom.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., demanded Sunday that the U.S. immediately initiate a program that would check the social media sites of those admitted on visas." "Had they checked out Tashfeen Malik," the senator said, "maybe those people in San Bernardino would be alive."...

http://abcnews.go.com

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FBI Knew About One Of The San Bernardino Terrorists In Advance But Allowed Her To Roam Free In America

Tweet from Reuters' Twitter page indicates the FBI had terrorists under surveillance, who were in telephonic communication with, Tashfeen Malik, who is one of the terrorists from the San Bernardino terrorist attack that occurred on December 2, 2015 at a disability center, killing 14 and wounding 20

The FBI has again let a radicalized person communicating with terrorists roam free in America, to terrible results, leading to the deaths of innocent people. Previously, the FBI watched as Nidal Hasan became radicalized in email exchanges with a terrorist cleric. Hasan then murdered innocent people at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. The FBI also had advance information on terrorists Anwar Al Awlaki and Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab (among others), but engaged in negligent conduct that allowed them to commit acts of terrorism.

Tashfeen Malik

Press reports on Reuters today reveals, the FBI was aware of one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terrorist attack, prior to the massacre occurring, as having communicated with terrorists. Tashfeen Malik, the 29-year-old wife of fellow terrorist Sayed Farook, was in America on a marriage visa and actively communicating with terrorists in her native Pakistan, over the phone. Malik has been linked to Pakistan's most notorious cleric, Maulana Aziz of the Red Mosque. On the day of the terrorist attack, Malik pledged her allegiance to ISIS on her Facebook page.

Maulana Aziz (left) and Syed Farook (right)

Farook met Malik when he spent many months in Pakistan. It is now also believed he received terrorist training while there. Over the past several years, in reading U.S. and international legal indictments by western governments, to write articles for this column on news events, the charging documents in terrorism cases reveal the criminals leaving their home nation in the west, going to the Middle East for many months, then returning to commit acts of jihad. There exists a pattern of behavior in this regard.

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14 Dead And 17 Wounded In Shooting By 3 Jihadis At A California Disability Center

14 Dead And 17 Wounded In Shooting By 3 Jihadis At A California Disability Center

Syed Farook

14 were killed and 17 wounded by 3 masked shooters in a vicious shooting at the Inland Regional Center, located in San Bernardino, California, during their annual Christmas party. The 44-year-old non-profit organization provides support and assistance to 35,000 disabled people in the area. 10 of the 17 people wounded in the incident are listed in "critical condition" at local hospitals. The shooters wore combat style clothing and used automatic weapons.

 

Hours before the shooters were identified, ISIS began celebrating the shooting using the Twitter hashtag #America_Burning. This coupled with the religion of the shooters leads many to believe the incident is a terrorist attack. One of the shooters has been identified as Syed Farook, a married man with children, who is an environmental inspector and American citizen, who worked for the state of California. Farook is being described as a devout Muslim.

Another of the shooters has been identified as Farook's brother. A third shooter was described on police scanners as an "Arabic woman." Two of the three suspects, one of them the woman, has been killed in a shoot out with police, as the left Farook's house in Redlands, California. A police officer was wounded during the battle. The police did a quick and thorough job in identifying, finding and cornering the shooters, who tried to flee in a black SUV.

STORY SOURCE

EXCLUSIVE: ISIS Adherents Praise San Bernardino Massacre, "America Burning"

By James King and Adi Cohen on Dec 02, 2015 at 6:34 PM - 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 discovered the ISIS posts on web forums where the extremists frequently share information. More San Bernardino Shooting Is The Deadliest Since Sandy Hook
“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.”... 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...

 

http://www.vocativ.com

Suspect ID'd in San Bernardino Massacre as Syed Farook - Killer?

12.02.159:26 PM ET - Syed Farook is one of three suspected gunmen who attacked a center for the disabled, killing 14 and injuring more on Wednesday. Law enforcement officials have identified Syed Farook as one of the suspected shooters who attacked a center for the disabled in San Bernardino, California, according to NBC News. The Daily Beast has learned that the police have just executed a search warrant at a Redlands, California address—an address that belongs to Farook’s family.

Police pursued a car leaving from the Redlands address, Chief Jarrod Baraugan said at a Wednesday evening press conference. A male and female suspect were inside the car, and both of them have been killed. Both of the suspects were armed with assault rifles and handguns, Baraugan said. Police have apprehended a third man, but have not identified his relation to the attacks yet...

 

http://www.thedailybeast.com

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