"Draw Muhammad" contest organizer faces new threat
Blogger Pamela Geller, organizer of the controversial "Draw Muhammad" contest in Texas, faces a new online threat as a suspected ISIS member called for her "slaughter."
Geller met with investigators from the New York Police Department's counterterrorism and intelligence bureaus Wednesday. NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis said they will do a "comprehensive threat assessment" to determine whether Geller will need security, but did not comment on details of the threat or security measures.
Geller is a leader of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a controversial organization which has run ads in cities across the country criticizing Islam. Geller said she will not back down after the failed Texas attack on Sunday left two gunmen dead. Authorities are still trying to determine whether the attack was directed or inspired by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Before opening fire on police, law enforcement officials said Elton Simpson and his roommate Nadir Soofi drove about 16 hours from Phoenix to Garland, Texas. They arrived shortly before the contest ended.
Both men were known to the FBI, but they were not considered "high priority threats." Simpson had interacted online with Mujahid Miski, an American and alleged jihadist recruiter who specifically called for violence in the U.S.
Since Sunday's shooting, ISIS has continued flooding the web with propaganda.
A Twitter user going by the name Abu Nasseha, whose account had been terminated Thursday morning, posted a statement signed by an unknown ISIS figure claiming Geller was the intended target of the attack in Texas.
The statement claimed ISIS has "71 trained soldiers in 15 different states" ready to carry out attacks in the U.S., and warned Geller would be targeted again.
The Twitter user had a history of disseminating ISIS propaganda on social media and appeared to be posting from the terrorist group's territory in Syria or Iraq, but it was impossible to verify that he had any firm links to or inside knowledge from its commanders.
Another alleged ISIS member from Britain wrote: "You ain't seen nothing yet."
Sunday's failed attack has raised concerns about who constitutes the "top echelon" threats in the country. Simpson and Soofi were not part of that group, but clearly posed a threat. The concern now is there are others like them lurking beneath the surface.