On Friday, suspected Islamist terrorist Esteban Santiago-Ruiz shot and killed 5 people at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport baggage claim area, wounding at least 6 more while inflicting 37 more with non life-threatening injuries. As mainstream media outlets lagged in quickly identifying the suspect and his basic online identity and possible motives, GotNews.com quickly got out in front of the story and gathered a bevy of vital information pertaining to the terrorist attack, leading other outlets to follow. Here’s what we know so far:
- Santiago-Ruiz used the name “Aashiq Hammad” in 2007 on his MySpace account
- Santiago-Ruiz posted on an explosives & weapons forum that he downloaded Islamist Jihadist propaganda videos in 2007 (1) (2)
- Santiago-Ruiz recorded himself singing the Islamic recitation of faith and posted it on MySpace in 2007
- Santiago-Ruiz was deployed to Iraq in 2010 as part of the Puerto Rico National Guard
- Santiago-Ruiz had a picture of himself in a Middle Eastern keffiyeh and doing the one-finger ISIS salute
- Santiago-Ruiz himself told FBI in November "he was being forced to watch ISIS videos." Officers said Santiago was seemingly "suffering from some kind of mental condition.”
While Santiago was captured and will go through due process, all the signs point to a pattern of a Jihadist. The media was quick to point out plenty of different reasons Santiago-Ruiz could have carried out the attack, such as his history of military service combined with mental health issues, of which he was treated for at a hospital after returning from Iraq in 2011. But patterns exist, and the fact that the FBI once again let another Islamist terrorist slip out of their hands, especially since this attack was planned, is not only unacceptable, it’s negligent.
For those still unaware, such as the oft quoted left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center who blamed the "radical-right" for last year's Orlando Jihadist massacre, there is a battle occurring, and it is a battle between Islam and the West. And as the battle intensifies, a new Trump administration soon will replace the seemingly ignorant Obama administration, which has not only weakened our own protective entities such as the FBI, but instead has only strengthened our Islamist enemies such as ISIS, Iran, the PA & Hamas, and Assad while weakening our allies, such as Israel, in the progress. Time will tell if President-Elect Trump is truly serious about “Making America Safe Again” all while fulfilling his overall promise to “Make America Great Again”.