the attorney general explained at a press conference in Washington and then clarified that there is no evidence that they had assisted the attacker in his action. On December 6, Mohammed al-Shamrani killed three people and injured eight others in the Pensacola naval and airbase in northern Florida, before being killed. The prosecutor confirmed Monday that it was a terrorist act. The 21-year-old Saudi cadet was “motivated by jihadist ideology,” Barr said.
According to the authorities, on September 11, 2019, the day of the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, published a message on social networks saying that “the countdown has begun.” He also posted other anti-American and anti-Israeli jihadist messages on social media two hours before the airbase attack. Among the 21 expelled cadets, “17 had anti-American or jihadist content on social networks,” Barr continued.
Barr made it clear that the actions of the 21 cadets expelled on Monday are not related to the aggression with a firearm perpetrated by Alshamrani in December 2019.
FBI statement after this action
The FBI believes that Mohamed Saeed AlShamrani, named as the person behind the shooting, acted alone. Hours earlier, he had hosted a party where participants watched videos of mass killings. He had also made publications in which he had criticized the role of the United States and its role in different wars in the Middle East. Among them stood out one made on September 11, 2019 -18th anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers- in which he said: “The countdown has begun.”
Why the United States take this action?
As a result of the attack, the United States suspended the formation of approximately 300 Saudi military personnel in the country while investigating the incident. The conclusions were announced just over a month later. And while it is believed that the shooter acted alone, it came to light that 21 cadets would have shared jihadist publications and child pornography on social networks. Therefore, his expulsion was decreed, both from the program and from the country.
“We learned that 21 members of the Saudi armed forces who were training here in the United States possessed contemptuous material” to the US territory, explained the attorney general at a press conference in Washington.
Of the 21 expelled cadets, he explained, “17 had anti-American or jihadist content on social media.” “Fifteen individuals had some contact with child pornography,” he said.
He added: “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia determined that the material demonstrated the impossibility of becoming officers of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, for which they have been expelled. They will return to Saudi Arabia at night,” Barr said.
At the time of the attack, Pentagon did not clarify how many Saudi cadets are currently training on US soil but said the currently country houses some 5,000 foreign soldiers receiving military
