Isis fighter: Take advantage of gun laws
In a video released by Isis (Islamic State), a one-legged fighter identified by the group as an American called on Muslims in the United States to “take advantage” of the country’s gun laws to obtain weapons and carry out attacks.
The fighter, identified as “Abu Salih al-Amriki,” wears khaki fatigues with a holstered pistol in the online video, which was published by a propaganda wing of Isis. He speaks in English with what sounded like a New York City-area accent.
“Take advantage of the fact that you can easily obtain a rifle or a pistol in America,” the fighter implored. “Spray the kuffar [infidels] with bullets so that their fear of the Muslims rises and they continue to reveal their hatred towards Islam.”
The Site Intelligence Group, a private organisation that tracks Islamist militant media, published a copy of the video in which Abu Salih also called US President Donald Trump a “dog of Rome”. The fighter said: “You entered into the White House on the back of your crusader rhetoric which the fake media has pressured you to tone down”.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security had no immediate comment on Abu Salih’s identity nor the potential threat of his entreaties to violence.
But the possibility that Isis followers in the US will acquire powerful weapons by legal means has been a growing concern of American counterterrorism officials.
Just last week, the outgoing director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, Nicholas Rasmussen, told reporters that permissive US gun laws enable mass murderers who want to carry out large-scale attacks. “We find ourselves in a more dangerous situation because our population of violent extremists has no difficulty gaining access to weapons that are quite lethal. I wish that weren’t so.”
The video begins with Abu Salih slipping on what looks like a prosthetic leg and pushing himself up on crutches. A bullet-scarred cityscape of demolished buildings appears in the background as he launches into his statement, which also urges other wounded and disabled militants to keep fighting. It wasn’t immediately clear where or when Abu Salih’s statement was recorded.
The video is part of a series “Inside the Caliphate” that has featured mainly foreign militants threatening attacks. A montage of beheadings and bombings follows Abu Salih’s statement, set to a soundtrack of militants chanting.