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FBI Unlocked IPhones Of Pensacola Shooter, Found Proof Of Al-Qaeda Ties - US Atty. General
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published May 19, 2020 | 12:48 AM
The FBI managed to unlock both phones of the Saudi cadet who shot three Americans in the Pensacola military base last year and found definitive proof of his ties with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terrorist organization (AQAP, banned in Russia), US Attorney General William Barr said during a press conference on Monday
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2020) The FBI managed to unlock both phones of the Saudi cadet who shot three Americans in the Pensacola military base last year and found definitive proof of his ties with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terrorist organization (AQAP, banned in Russia), US Attorney General William Barr said during a press conference on Monday.
On December 6, a Saudi pilot trainee, 2nd Lieutenant Ahmed al Shamrani, opened fire in a classroom building at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, killing three US servicemen and wounding eight others before the authorities shot him dead.
"Today, I am pleased to announce that thanks to relentless efforts and ingenuity of FBI's technicians, the FBI finally succeeded in unlocking al Shamrani's phones," Barr said. "The phones contained information previously unknown to us that definitively established al Shamrani's significant ties to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula not only before the attack, but before he even arrived in the United States."
Barr lamented the lack of cooperation on the part of Apple, the manufacturer of both phones, regarding unlocking the devices.
"We asked Apple for assistance and the President asked Apple for assistance. Unfortunately, Apple would not help us unlock the phones," Barr said.
The US Justice Department said the phones' contents revealed highly-significant evidence that al Shamrani had joined the Royal Saudi Air Force in order to carry out a "special operation.
" Even while living in Texas and Florida, he communicated with AQAP associates about plans and tactics until the night before the attack.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said during the press conference that al Shamrani was meticulous in his planning.
"He made pocket-cam videos as he cased his classroom building. He wrote a final will, purporting to explain himself, and saved it in his phone - the exact same will that AQAP released two months later when they initially claimed responsibility," Wray said. "He wasn't just coordinating with them about planning and tactics - he was helping the organization make the most it could out of his murders."
Wray said the FBI searched the entire market for a solution to access the phones, but eventually had to devise one.
"[W]e did it ourselves. Unfortunately, the technique that we developed is not a fix for our broader Apple problem, it's a pretty limited application, but it has made a huge difference in this investigation," Wray said.
Wray added that the investigation continues, but the contents of the phones revealed no active shooter's associates in the United States.
The Justice Department said that the evidence derived from al Shamrani's phones proved useful to carry out a counterterrorism operation targeting AQAP operative Abdullah al-Maliki in Yemen.
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