The Islamic Community Center in Arizona attended by Garland, Texas, shooters Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi participated in fundraisers for Islamic foundations belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood that support terrorism, reported researcher Walid Shoebat, a former Muslim terrorist who converted to Christianity.
Led by Usama Shami, the mosque has hosted Islamic Relief USA, which has connections to Hamas, and ICNA Relief USA, which Shoebat says is "known for its jihadist fundraising empire."
The FBI is investigating Simpson's and Soofi's past after, as "WND reported from the scene, they were shot dead by a local law-enforcement officer in Garland, Texas, when they, armed with assault rifles and wearing body armor, apparently tried to enter the Curtis Culwell Center northeast of Dallas and slaughter some 200 people inside at a free-speech event called the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest."
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An officer shot Simpson and Soofi on the street with his service pistol after they jumped out of their car and began firing, and SWAT officers also opened fire, killing both men. A school-district police officer, Bruce Joiner, was hit in the ankle but was released from the hospital Sunday night.
"We were able to stop those men before they were able to penetrate the area and attempt to shoot anyone else," said Garland Police Chief Joe Harn, who helped lead a security operation that included a SWAT team, barricades, a police tower and metal detectors at the entrance of the building.
On Tuesday, ISIS claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack, declaring it was carried out by "two soldiers of the caliphate."
"We tell ... America that what is coming will be more grievous and more bitter and you will see from the soldiers of the caliphate what will harm you, God willing," said the statement, read on the jihadist group's Al Bayan radio station in Raqqa, Syria.
Shoebat noted Shami described the two men as liked among the mosque members and good examples.
The New York Times, citing Shami, reported Simpson had converted to Islam while in high school and adopted the Muslim name Ibrahim.
Simpson was focused on the basic issues about his faith, grounded in questions young converts ask about fasting and the rules of courtship and marriage, Shami said.
"There were no flashes of anger or radicalization, just an absence of happiness," Shami told the Times.
But he noted court records reveal the FBI recruited an informant in the mosque to spy on Simpson 10 years ago.
Shoebat noted the mosque's Facebook page had an announcement about a visit by Islamic Relief USA:
The mosque's property and the center, as are the vast majority of mosques in the U.S., are controlled by the North American Islamic Trust, a Muslim Brotherhood front, Shoebat pointed out. Also, Islamic Relief USA, which ICCP hosted, funds Hamas terrorist organizations in Gaza, according to Israel.
"The shooters as we also [have] shown from Soofi's Facebook page, support Hamas as can be seen [where] he posted their photo and has a litany of statements in support for relief for Hamas in Gaza," Shoebat said.
"I could belabor the litany of evidence on Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA) and ICNA, but the links shared here are detailed research and makes a solid case," he wrote.
"While the ICCP does not support ISIS, it took a few minutes to prove that it is typical of these centers to support the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas which last I checked, by the State Department, is considered a terrorist organization," he wrote.
See a report from Kyung Lah about the men's neighbors:
WND reported Simpson had been accused of lying to an FBI agent about a trip he was planning to take to Somalia to join the al-Shabaab jihadist group. He was sentenced to just three years probation by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Mary Murguia.
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