Families of Texas attackers shocked.
Group takes credit; gunmen’s families baffled
The Islamic State took credit Tuesday for the violent but bungled attack on a Texas cartoon contest featuring depictions of the prophet Mohammed, but families of the attackers were washing their hands of the assault.
Elton Simpson, 30, and Nadir Soofi, 34, were fatally shot by police after shooting a security guard outside the event in Garland, Texas, on Sunday night. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack Tuesday, although it was not clear if the group’s leaders had any knowledge of the attack before it took place.
Traditional Islam considers any depictions of Mohammed as blasphemy. However, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy organization, condemned Sunday’s attack as “more insulting to our faith than any cartoon.”
Simpson and Soofi, both Muslim, shared an apartment in Phoenix. Simpson had been convicted of making false statements in a 2011 terror case — and had told an FBI informant he wanted to kill non-Muslims.
Simpson’s family issued a statement through the Phoenix law firm of Osborn Maledon, saying the family was “heartbroken and in a state of shock.” The statement said family members had no idea Simpson was planning the attack.
“We send our prayers to everyone affected by this act of senseless violence, especially the security guard who was injured in the line of duty,” the statement said. “Just like everyone in our beautiful country, we are struggling to understand how this could happen.”
Soofi’s mother, Houston resident Sharon Soofi, said she was stunned to hear of her son’s involvement. She said her son had been religiously observant and politically active but not violent.
“We had no idea that he was planning to do this,” she said.
Nadir Soofi, who had owned a small restaurant and more recently a carpet cleaning company, was born in Dallas and lived in Garland until he was 3. His mother said the family spent several years in Pakistan, but returned in 1998.
Soofi said her son was a passionate defender of Islam, and a loving father to his 8-year-old son, who lives in Phoenix with his mother.
“It kills me that this little boy has got to have this memory of his father; it’s just going to affect him the rest of his life, too,” she said.
Soofi says she knew her son lived with Simpson and had heard they’d visited websites with some extremist views. But she never thought him capable of an attack. She believes Simpson was a powerful, negative influence, drawing him into the plot.
“He put his son above everything, I thought,” she said. “The hard thing to comprehend is why he would do this and leave an 8year-old son behind..”
Soofi now has the challenge of loving and mourning her son, while feeling anguish over what he did.
“He’s not a terrorist. He was kind, he was devoted to his son, and I still can’t believe he would try to hurt anybody,” she said. “I just can’t.”
“The hard thing to comprehend is why he would do this and leave an 8-year-old son behind.” Sharon Soofi on the death of her son Nadir Soofi in the attack in Texas