Jihad and the World

Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the intersection of Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, which provides education on national security. This podcast is one of several follow-ups to a 10-part series on a mass murder at Fort Hood, Texas. The series is titled “Rampage – Mass murder at Fort Hood.” This first follow-up examines the possible execution of the murderer, Nidal Hasan. We at Kensington are sharing it now, before all 10 episodes have been published, because Nidal Hasan may be scheduled for execution in 2026. This episode is called “An Execution Party and a Cocktail.”
By way of background, Hasan was an Army psychiatrist when he opened fire at a crowded Soldier Readiness Processing Center at what was then Fort Hood, killing 13 people and wounding 31 others. This incident is the subject of the series Rampage. Hasan was sentenced to death and remains incarcerated at the United States Disciplinary Barracks. The USDB's mission is to detain U.S. military prisoners who have received lengthy sentences, oversee correctional and treatment programs to maintain order and discipline, reduce recidivism after release, and, when directed, provide trained soldiers for global deployment to support contingency operations.
All types of offenders have spent time behind bars there. It housed Mennonites who objected to military service during World War I, and 14 German prisoners from World War II were hanged there in 1945 for murdering other POWs they believed to be traitors. The old prison also held Lt. William Calley, convicted of murder over the My Lai Massacre in 1968 during the Vietnam War, and the pugnacious middleweight, Rocky Graziano, who received a nine-month sentence during World War II for going AWOL after decking an officer.
Many inmates can better themselves by earning vocational certificates in barbering, carpentry, embroidery, engraving, graphic arts, laundry and dry cleaning, printing, sheet metal work, and welding. The most difficult cases are held in a special unit where inmates are confined for 23 hours a day. They do not share meals with other inmates, nor can they walk the halls without being shackled. There are no pick-up basketball games in the yard or weightlifting routines for maximum-security prisoners. If exercise facilities were available, Nidal Hasan would not be able to use them because he is confined to a wheelchair after being paralyzed from the waist down due to gunshot wounds. He resides in one of several small, secure cells called Death Row, waiting for the day he will be strapped to a gurney and executed.
Military Executions
The United States Army executed 36 soldiers during World War I by hanging. Eleven of these hangings took place in France, while the remaining 25 were carried out in the continental United States. In World War Two, the military executed 142 soldiers and other members of the armed forces. The U.S. Navy has not executed any of its servicemen since 1849. The prisoners were usually shot or hanged. Today, he will likely be killed by a cocktail of poisons injected into his veins. This is what awaits Nidal Hasan.
Firing Squad – “The Execution Party”
“Cause eight rifles to be loaded in his presence. Not more than three nor fewer than one will be loaded with blank ammunition. He will place the rifles at random in the rack provided for that purpose.” Instructions for officer charged with execution by firing squad.
So, what was it like to be executed by a firing squad during World War II? The officer responsible for the firing squad rehearsed the procedure with the team. The team consisted of eight men and one sergeant. A chaplain would accompany the prisoner and confirm that a medical officer was present at the scene. The officer would check that the post securing the prisoner was sturdy and that the rings were secure. He would decide how many of the rifles would have blanks, randomly selecting between 1 and 3 of the 8 rifles in the designated rack. A black hood covered the prisoner's head. A 4-inch round target was placed above his heart. The prisoner's arms should be secured either behind his back or at the waist in front, either before or immediately after being received by the guard.
The Dead March and a Lively Air
Sometimes, music accompanied the execution. If so, the escort will then proceed to the execution site, with the band playing the "Dead March." The officer read the charge, findings, sentence, and orders aloud to the prisoner. He then raised his right arm vertically overhead, palm forward, fingers extended and joined, and the execution party will come to the "Ready" position.
When the officer raises his arm to a straight, horizontal position and shouts “aim,” he then drops it, commanding "FIRE." At this signal, the men in the party fire into the prisoner's heart. The officer then examines the now-shot prisoner and administers the "coup de grace" if necessary. He then dismisses the men. The execution “party” is over. This is generally what happened to Private Eddie Slovak toward the end of World War II, when he was executed for desertion. Since January 31, 1945, no American soldier has been executed for desertion. We at Kensington believe that the execution scene in the movie “The Execution of Eddie Slovak” was accurate.
Death by Hanging
Most Army executions in the United States have been conducted by hanging. The officer in charge may secure the prisoner’s arms in front or behind him and fasten them to a belt. In consultation with a medical officer, he will determine the drop necessary for a “proper execution.” The lightest weight listed on the standard drop chart was 120 lbs or less. The required drop is 8’1”. For much larger men and women, the heaviest weight is 220 lbs, and the height is just 5’0”. One day before, the execution is rehearsed with a sandbag.
The most well-known U.S. Army hangman was Master Sergeant John C. Woods. During 1944 and 1945, the tough Master Sergeant Woods, with a questionable background, executed about thirty U.S. soldiers sentenced to death. After the war, he hanged dozens of Nazi war criminals at Landsberg Military Prison, often working alongside the German Johann Reichhart, an official executioner of Nazi Germany. Woods claimed to have carried out 347 executions over a 15-year career. The British movie, Pierrepoint, captures the career of executioner Albert Pierrepoint, Britain’s last hangman. One scene focuses on the hanging of German war criminals, and we believe that it, and the movie in general, is accurate.
Lethal Injection
All of this history is not relevant to Nidal Hasan's planned execution. He will not be hanged or shot; instead, he will be poisoned with a lethal cocktail. The last time the U.S. military executed a service member for a capital crime was on April 13, 1961. Since then, the federal government and state governments have moved to lethal injection. Traditionally, lethal injections have used a three-drug cocktail: sodium thiopental for sedation, pancuronium bromide to paralyze the muscles, and potassium chloride to stop the heart. However, in 2011, the only U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental, ceased production due to its use in executions. That same year, the European Union banned the export of sodium thiopental along with other barbiturates used in executions, requiring companies to ensure that their exports would not be used for lethal injections. Etomidate is the latest drug to be used in capital punishment in the U.S. Etomidate is a type of intravenous anesthetic that knocks the prisoner unconscious. Another chemical, rocuronium bromide, paralyzes the inmate before the third, potassium acetate, stops his heart. When all three of these drugs course through Hasan’s veins, he will be dead.
Who looks forward to Hasan’s execution? Many survivors, friends, and family of victims look forward to the day of death. Am I going to leave here in a body bag? Are they going to cut my baby out of my corpse?" And what of Nidal’s thoughts? His letters reveal that he is as committed as ever to killing those whom he sees as enemies of England. If he is executed, he will die as a martyr and go directly to heaven. Will he be executed in 2026? We at Kensington have no inside information, but we think it is very likely. Secretary of War Hegseth has advocated for his execution. If he hasn’t already, President Trump will likely sign off on the death warrant. Then, some 21 years after the killing, he will die, perhaps with the words Allah Akar on his lips. These may be his last words, and these were the last words some of his victims heard on the day of his rampage at Fort Hood.

Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the connection between Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. In this, our second of ten episodes, we look at Fort Hood and the immediate environs. part podcast series about the mass murder at Fort Hood. The series is titled “Rampage – Mass Murder at Fort Hood.”
The Great Place
“I, Nidal Malik Hasan, having been appointed a major in the U.S. Army . . . do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the   Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and . . . domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same . . . So help me God.” Nidal Malik Hasan
 
Located in Texas, Fort Hood is one of America’s largest military installations. Its moniker is “The Great Place,” and it was opened in 1942 to train soldiers how to destroy German and Japanese tanks. The Fort became home to the Third Corps, which moved the “Red Ball Express” supplying Patton’s Third Army. It produced the soldiers who captured the legendary Remagen Bridgehead, securing a foothold in Germany. Fort Hood is named after Confederate General John Bell Hood. Some residents and non-residents are uncomfortable with this continuing salute to the Confederacy.
Fort Hood is an important part of both Texas and the U.S. Army. It is one of America’s largest military bases, located in the biggest state in the continental U.S. Camp Hood officially opened in 1942 to train soldiers to destroy German and Japanese tanks. The symbol of the Third Corps was the black panther, as seen on the shoulder patch of tank destroyers. The fort became home to the Third Corps, which had previously served in World War I. During World War II, it transported the “Red Ball Express” and fought alongside Patton's Third Army to capture the Remagen Bridgehead, gaining a foothold in Germany.
The Soldiers Readiness Center is located on Battalion Avenue, between 75th and 77th streets. It runs parallel to Hell on Wheels Avenue and Tank Destroyer Road, near Support Avenue, and is also close to Hospital Road. The center is near the commissary, the main post exchange, a bank, small shops, and a gas station. Copperas Cove and West Fort Hood are to its west. Central Texas College is across US Highway 190 to the south, while the stables and Killeen are to its east. According to one study, Killeen is the most stressful city in Texas. This is due to several factors: “The high cost of housing, long work hours, and relatively high crime.” Especially when you think of the cities around us. Austin, 67 miles south, has battled a property-
Life on Fort Hood
“Scuffy!” That word has haunted Killeen since the Washington Post described the city as "a scruffy (military) town of tattoo parlors and auto body shops, Chinese restaurants, and pawn shops" in 2004. The Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce plans to change that image during Maj. Nidal Hasan's upcoming court-martial. "The community gets a lot of coverage because of Fort Hood," said John Crutchfield, president and CEO of the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce. "A lot of those stories are not complimentary." As part of an effort to improve the city's image, the chamber will provide visiting media with a kit consisting of fact sheets, contacts, third-party articles, and dining options. "We will highlight some of our unique places on our list that the media might not be aware of," Crutchfield said. “Let Us Do the Cooking Cafe and Catering Service” is one of the local businesses featured in the restaurant guide. Owner Meredith Viguers said she believes Killeen deserves the improved public relations effort. "I think it is."
Islamic Killeen
            Killeen has a small but lively Muslim community. There are halal supermarkets and restaurants listed on a Muslim-friendly website. A dating site for Muslims in Killeen is also available. Muslima.com features profiles of Muslim men of various ages looking for long-term relationships. The brief bios of these men resemble lonely-hearts ads found elsewhere. One reads, “I am happy with my life in most respects, but am missing excitement and passion. I would like to meet someone to share fun, laughter, and maybe some romance . . .” About 70 Muslim families, many connected to the military, pray at the Killeen mosque. For them, their co-religionist’s 2009 murder has been a heartbreaking betrayal, according to congregant MAJ Dawud Agbere. The shooting caused, in the words of mosque leader Osman Danquah, “tremendous pressure. We are in a state of mourning for what has transpired, and at the same time, you have the media swarming down and the FBI swarming down." Mosque president Manzoor Farooqi condemned the shootings as a "shameless attack" and said he cooperated with federal investigators. Farooqi, a pediatrician, stated that Hasan gave no signals to him or other mosque leaders that he was planning to kill fellow soldiers.
            Many of Killeen’s Muslims wistfully recall the days before the November 2009 killings drew unwanted and mostly negative attention to the community. “It goes into your head, and it twists you around," said Nabil Sutherland, 68, a retired steelworker who prays at the mosque. "People come here, you think they're peaceful, humble, and praise God. You don't think anybody would have any connection with radical extremism. To kill other soldiers and innocent human beings... it's beyond comprehension."
 
Murders occur in Killeen just like in many other places. These crimes often originate from domestic disputes, financial struggles, revenge, or long-term mental health issues. Many murders in Killeen are committed by residents living in poverty. Some are planned, while others happen suddenly. Texas experienced one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. About 25 years ago, the scene was Austin, 50 miles south of Killeen, near the University of Texas tower. Charles Whitman, a 25-year-old architecture student, fired from his observation tower at students and bystanders, causing nearly two hours of chaos. Sixteen people died, and 31 others were wounded on August 1, 1966, during the attack, which ended when police quietly entered the tower and shot Whitman. There was also a killing in Killeen when a troubled individual drove his pickup truck through a window of Luby's Cafeteria and fired at anyone he could see. All these events foreshadowed Nidal Hasan's mass murder in 2009.
Guns Galore – “No Idiots Allowed”
There is a strong gun culture in Texas with folklore connected to it. Six-shooters, cowboys, soldiers, and shootouts are all part of the state’s history. Fort Hood, a large Army post, is a key part of this tradition. Guns Galore is about 2 miles outside Fort Hood. It’s one of the few places in the area, besides pawn shops, where you can buy firearms. Longtime salesman Gregg Ebert, a former police officer from Killeen, said the store serves local law enforcement and has a good record of following federal regulations. Guns cover the walls of the shop near Fort Hood, along with posters that say: No Idiots Allowed. This Isn't a Place for Children to Play. Firearm Trafficking is Illegal. Ebert also said he has refused to sell guns to certain individuals before. "We've refused to sell to a handful of people based on their mannerisms, their overall behavior — left you with the uncomfortable feeling that I'd rather not sell a firearm to this person," Ebert said. Guns Galore is also where a soldier accused of planning to bomb Fort Hood troops at a restaurant in 2011 bought gunpowder and ammunition. And then there was Nidal Hasan.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Jihad and the World. If you enjoyed it, please consider subscribing. If you have any firsthand knowledge of the Fort Hood attack, please contact us. Our latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available for purchase in July 2026. This podcast does not reflect the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting. 
 

Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the intersection of Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, which provides education on national security. Today, we begin a 10-part series on a mass-murder attack at Fort Hood, Texas. A trust U.S. soldier murdered and tried to murder scores of his countrymen whom he declared enemies of Islam. The series is entitled “Rampage – Mass murder at Fort Hood. Episode One presents the attack.
On the afternoon of November 5, 2009, the balding, portly 39-year-old US Army Major Nidal Hasan strolled into Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center. He turned to the only civilian in the waiting area and calmly asked her to leave. Hidden in his clothing were an FN 5-7 pistol with green and red laser sights and a .357 revolver, which he carried as a backup weapon. Also concealed were nearly two dozen magazines, each holding 20 rounds, which he claimed would be enough to ‘accomplish his mission.”
            Now inside the Base, he watched soldiers talking and filling out paperwork for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. He shouted "Allahu akbar!" and opened fire on his fellow soldiers, who were completely caught off guard. At first, Private Second Class Alan Carroll chuckled at Hasan’s Arabic shouts. Later, he would say, “I thought he was just joking around.” Another soldier thought it was a paintball game. But soon, heads turned to the pop-pop-pop of firecrackers and then to screams of pain. Unarmed and unsuspecting, Hasan’s victims were defenseless against his brutal attack.
            In the chaos, some soldiers realized that they had been struck by bullets only when they saw their own blood. Others recalled the rounds feeling like sledgehammers or baseball bats slamming into them. The shots tumbled through flesh, shattered bones, and ruptured organs. Many of the injured remain haunted by the cries of dying and the acrid smell of the blood.
            The first to take a bullet at 21 years old was PFC Najee Hull, who was hit twice in the back and once in the knee. He shuffled into a nearby cubicle and hid. Reservist Dorothy "Dorrie" Carskadon was shot four times while completing paperwork. Both soldiers survived. Coukoulis saw from his hiding spot that Hasan looked at his victims, some of whom “... just stood their ground. They didn't flinch, and they didn't whimper. They were looking at fate, and they knew it."
            PFC Kham Xiong, 23, continued his family’s military tradition. During the Vietnam War, his father fought the communists in Laos. His younger brother served in the Marines. His 8th-grade teacher recalled, “his greatest attribute was his ability to make everybody smile." Xiong was among the first to be killed at Fort Hood while waiting in line for a flu shot. Soft-spoken and determined, SSGT Amy Sue Krueger had already served in Iraq and was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. Earlier, she explained to her family, “we need more people” to serve there. Hasan shot and killed her.
            Trying to make sense of the chaos, soldiers realized that the attacker was wearing an Army uniform. "He's one of ours! He's one of ours!" a female lieutenant yelled as Hasan kept spraying rounds into soldiers. Many of the bullets hit their targets. Twenty-one-year-old PVT Francheska Velez was expecting a baby. “Cheka,” as she was affectionately known, became pregnant in Iraq. Hasan shot her as she pleaded for the life of her unborn child. "My baby! My baby!" were her last words. A generation older than Cheka, LTC Juanita Warman, who was shot in the abdomen, begged to be allowed to tell her family that she loved them. She never got the chance because she died at the scene.
            The gunfire continued relentlessly. Witnesses described how Hasan sprayed bullets in a fan-shaped pattern before targeting individual soldiers. Psychiatric nurse CPT Russell Seager requested to be sent to Afghanistan to help emotionally distressed combat personnel. His front-line experience gave him insight into his emotionally traumatized comrades. Now at Fort Hood, CPT Seager tried to save lives by rushing at Hasan, who shot and killed him. Eyewitness SGT Michael Davis said: "The rate of fire was pretty much constant shooting . . . it sounded like an M16." Bright red and green beams from the shooter’s laser gunsight illuminated the dust particles.
            Rounds tore through backs, arms, and necks as the wounded crawled for cover. Hasan changed magazines too quickly for anyone to stop him. He had practiced at the range. But some personnel in the Center confronted the shooter. Grizzled senior Michael Grant Cahill, armed with a folding chair, charged at him, and Hasan shot him dead. The 62-year-old took six shots. Posthumously, he was awarded the Army Medal for Valor.
            As a boy, soft-spoken Spc. Frederick Greene of Mountain City, TN, was active at Baker’s Gap Baptist Church. A church superintendent said, “He was one of the finest boys you ever saw.” His fellow soldiers called him the Silent Soldier because he never complained and often volunteered to help. Hasan shot him 12 times, and he died. At 19 years old, Aaron Nemelka from West Jordan, Utah, was the youngest to die. Like Frederick Greene, Nemelka was also a man of faith. PFC Nemelka was shot three times while lying on the ground.
            SSG Justin Michael DeCrow was the son of a Vietnam War veteran and father to a 13-year-old daughter. He wrestled and played football in high school. But this sturdily built soldier had no defense against the bullets that killed him. MAJ Libardo Eduardo Caraveo, the youngest of seven children from a poor Mexican family that immigrated to Texas when he was a boy, put himself through college and earned a doctorate from the University of Arizona. Deeply patriotic, he pledged, “If God helps me, then I am going to help people.' He died that day on the killing floor. Passionate guitarist PFC Michael Pearson, 21, of Bolingbrook, was shot three times—in the spine and the chest. Surgeons worked desperately to save Pearson, even bringing him back to life twice on the operating table, but he had lost too much blood and died. However, many of those shot survived. SGT Alonzo Lunsford saw the laser train on his face, and he instinctively closed his eyes. He was shot seven times, collapsed to the ground, and started to sing Amazing Grace but could not get past the first verse.
            Hasan searched for those hiding. He trained his laser sight on Theodore Coukoulis, who was concealed under a desk. Coukoulis hoped Hasan would shoot him in the back of the head so he could die instantly. Instead, the major moved on, and Coukoulis survived. After Hasan left the building, Coukoulis emerged from his hiding spot and began assisting with triage. Later, he would describe the wide grin Hasan wore as he gunned down soldiers.
Nurse Shemeka Hairston called 911 for help. She was crouched under a desk at the processing center where the shooting started. “Oh God, help me,” Hairston said as the operator kept asking her for the location of the shooting. She opened her eyes and saw a soldier standing up during a pause in the gunfire. “His eyes got big, and he fell.”
At that time, all active-duty soldiers were preparing for deployments to either Iraq or Afghanistan. One of the victims, retired Lt. Col. Randy Lee Royer, was shot in the leg, breaking his femur a few inches above the knee. Royer needed a cane to walk to the stand. He described hiding in a cubicle during the shooting. Unable to walk, he stayed inside the processing center throughout the entire incident. When it was over, he said the building was “deathly quiet.”
            Soldiers Down, Shooter Down
            Michelle Harper had worked at the center for six years drawing blood. Startled by the gunshots, she turned and saw Michael Pearson fall as he took his last breaths. Along with several others, she dialed 911. Captured on tape, Hasan’s gunshots were heard, as were Pearson’s dying breaths and moans. "Oh, my God! There are a lot of people—15, probably more," cried nurse Kimberly "Regina" Huseman, who also called 911. "He's a soldier! . . . Oh, my God!" Calmly, Major Hasan exited 42003 and reassured surprised civilians that the chaos of screams and gunshots was just an exercise. But he, like many of his victims, would leave Fort Hood on a gurney, near death, and permanently crippled.
After Hasan left, survivors began shouting, "Mass casualty! Mass casualty!" and "Soldiers down! Soldiers down!" SSC Maria Guerra yelled, "You train for this, you train for this, let's go.” Medics and nurses quickly emerged from hiding to help their fallen comrades. A medic marked the foreheads of several dead with the letter D to indicate who needed aid. By coincidence, a documentary filmmaker was there filming a school graduation, but instead, he captured footage of the wounded, using their gowns as makeshift bandages.
PFC Amber Bahr, 19, applied a tourniquet to a soldier and carried him a short distance before realizing she had been shot. The bullet entered her abdomen and exited through her back. She survived. Nurses and medics entered the building and secured the doors to prevent Hasan from reentering. They then turned to the wounded and rushed to help them. Some later remembered that the floor was so soaked with blood it was too slippery to quickly reach the screaming and pleading victims.
Outside, Hasan searched for more soldiers to attack. The police had been compromised, and two officers sped to the scene. Ford Hood police officer SGT Kimberly Munley and her partner started their shift that day by washing their squad car. Responding to urgent calls for help, she arrived at the center to see soldiers shouting, “He’s that way! He’s that way!” She saw Hasan, who aimed his weapon at her. “Then I saw a red flash of a laser cross my eyes. I pulled the hammer back on my weapon to get an accurate shot,” Munley said. “We began to blindly exchange fire.” Hasan was faster to draw, and Munley’s gun jammed. Hasan’s rounds hit her in the hand, thigh, and knee. As she lay wounded on the ground, Hasan kicked away her weapon. But before he could fire a killing shot, Munley’s partner, Mark Todd, shot at Hasan.
Later, Todd recalled, "... he turned and fired a couple of rounds at me. I didn't hear him say a word; he just turned and fired." The two exchanged gunfire, and Hasan was hit by five rounds from Todd, who kicked the pistol out of his hand and placed handcuffs on him as he fell unconscious. Someone yelled, “Shooter down!" Hasan was rushed to a hospital, received treatment, and was later incarcerated. By the end of the shooting, he had fired 146 rounds inside the facility and 68 outside. Blood donation centers in Waco, Killeen, and Scott and White Hospital in Temple became overwhelmed with donors. The list of those murdered and wounded at Fort Hood includes individuals of many different ethnicities, different religions, genders, national origins, and races. Some were soldiers, and some were civilians. All were members of the U.S. Army who were murdered during an Islamist rampage at Fort Hood.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Jihad and the World. If you enjoyed it, please consider subscribing. Next week, we will cover Fort Hood and Killeen, Texas, the last home of Nidal Hasan and those he murdered. If you have firsthand knowledge of the Fort Hood attack, please reach out to us. Our latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available in July 2026. This podcast does not represent the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting. 

Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the connection between Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. Today, we examine Islamist infiltration in the United States military. We will profile several Army soldiers who killed or tried to kill their fellow American soldiers. We will also look at some Pentagon Jihadis who did not physically harm military personnel but betrayed the country they swore to serve. Finally, we will try to make sense of the homicidal rampages and betrayals.
Ali Mohammad - "He has a lot of chutzpah, no question," Tom Corrigan, of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, in reference to Ali Mohammad, the US Army trainer for al Qaeda
Ali Mohammad, also often spelled Mohammed, was unquestionably the most well-known Islamist infiltrator in any US military branch. Athletic, handsome, intelligent, charming, and treacherous, Mohammad served in the Egyptian Army until he was discharged for aligning himself with an Islamic Brotherhood offshoot. As a soldier, he visited the United States during military exchanges, where he worked as a translator. Without steady employment, he moved to the U.S., married an American, and enlisted in the US Army, where he served at Fort Bragg, giving lectures on Islamic culture among other duties.
What is clear is his Islamist bona fides, which he earned through teaching martial arts and small-unit tactics at Osama bin Laden’s training camps in Afghanistan. He also trained Islamists based in the US, in New York and New Jersey, one of whom was later convicted of murdering an American rabbi. Ali Mohammad’s talent and intelligence starkly contrast with the US government’s and the US Army’s ineptitude and confusion about Islamism. Is Ali Mohammad professing his allegiance to Islam and his willingness to fight anyone, including Americans, who threaten Islam?
SGT Mohammad was openly contemptuous of Sadat, US foreign policy, and Israel, and he freely spoke about the virtues of political Islam. If anyone questioned his commitment to the Islamist cause, they only needed to see him on a US Army-produced television show. Although many soldiers familiar with Mohammad discussed his anti-American rants and dedication to the Islamist cause, they were wary of being labeled bigots if they brought up the issue. Additionally, many soldiers assumed that because Mohammad was teaching Islam courses at Fort Bragg, his Army superiors were aware of and approved his course content. Why else would they assign him to teach such a course? It's no surprise that many soldiers chose to remain silent.
Hasan Akbar - Despite his academic qualifications, SGT Hasan Akbar never became an officer. Born in difficult circumstances to a radical-leftist father turned Muslim, Mark Fidel Kools, who changed his name to Hasan Akbar, left the mean streets of Los Angeles to study engineering at UC Davis. There, he was engaged in the small Muslim community and regularly attended MSA meetings.
In the Army, he felt isolated and complained about being taunted. However, the teasing from fellow soldiers might have come from his odd behavior, not his Islamic faith. He acted unpredictably, doing karate chops spontaneously and blurting out angry, inappropriate comments, which made his fellow soldiers uncomfortable. He also unexpectedly and repeatedly fell asleep during training. Long before Akbar threw grenades into the tents of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division's 326th Engineering Battalion, he wrote in his diary about killing Americans as an Islamic duty. His behavior was strange, but he could function as a soldier, if not a very good one. He also did not seem to have trouble telling fantasy from reality. Because of this, a court-martial convicted him and sentenced him to death. Akbar’s defense lawyers argued he was too mentally ill to plan the attack. They claimed that, like his unpredictable karate chops, the grenade attack was spontaneous, which could reduce his sentence. But prosecutor CPT Robert McGovern said during closing arguments that his attack was carefully planned, entirely voluntary, and carried out with full knowledge that it was illegal. "He (Akbar) sought maximum carnage." He achieved it and, as a result, was sentenced to death.
Nidal Hasan
The most notorious and deadly US Islamist soldier is Nidal Hasan, about whom we have a future 10-part podcast series. On the afternoon of November 5, 2009, the balding, portly 39-year-old US Army Major Nidal Hasan walked into Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center. Hidden in his clothing were an FN 5-7 pistol with green and red laser sights and a .357 revolver, which he carried as a backup weapon. Also concealed were nearly two dozen magazines, each holding 20 rounds. His mission? To kill as many of his fellow American soldiers as possible in the name of Islam.
Pentagon Jihadis - There have been other Islamists, whom Daniel Pipes calls the “Pentagon Jihadis." They include Semi Osman, who served in both the US Army and Navy Reserves and was charged with providing "material support for terrorists." Abdul Raheem Al Arshad Ali, a Marine convert to Islam, was charged with aiding Osman. Jeffrey Leon Battle, an Army member who converted to Islam, was convicted of terrorism-related charges. Hammad Abdur-Raheem, who served in the Army, was convicted of using his military skills to train fellow Islamists for Jihad. Hassan Abujihaad, a naval communications specialist and convert to Islam, was convicted of aiding the Taliban.
Yusuf Khalil Jackson, a civilian contractor for the DoD, admitted to producing fake military IDs and may have been involved in the counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan. Sadeq Naji Ahmedan, an Air Force sergeant who was discharged for making statements condemning the US and praising bin Laden, later worked as a baggage handler at an airport. Among the senior Islamist citizens is Rafat Jamal Mawlawi, in his 50s, who served 12 years in the Navy and was later found with a small arsenal of weapons, passports indicating passage to Iran, extensive Jihadist literature, and videotapes suggesting involvement in Jihad, likely in the Balkans. These are only the known Islamists who have been arrested or convicted.
 

Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the connection between Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, and today’s episode shares updates on Western women who joined the Caliphate. It revisits topics covered in Jihad and the West – Black Flag over Babylon, released ten years ago. This episode provides a more detailed biography of a very confused English woman who turned to Islam and the Caliphate in search of a new life. I will also speculate on why four Western Islamists went to the Caliphate, where they were killed by their former countrymen.
"Because she is a Muslim, she will come here and never leave." Sally Jones’ friend Aisha
Raised in Kent, England, Catholic Sally Jones was a practicing Christian through her early twenties. When she was ten, her father, a van driver, committed suicide. Times were tough, and by sixteen, she left school to become a beautician. She also played bass in an all-girl band named Krunch. A bandmate impregnated her. She lost her husband to liver cancer two years after their son was born. Now a widow, she started using dating apps in 1996 and met Junaid Hussain.
She fell for him and quit her job selling cosmetics, then the couple traveled to Syria to join ISIS. They became known as Mr. and Mrs. Terror. She left her older son in Britain but took ten-year-old JoJo, whom she groomed to become an executioner. In Syria, she married Hussain and converted to Islam. Hussain died in fighting in 2015, but her influence and power continued to grow. Yesterday’s punk rocker became the leader of the female wing of the Anwar al-Awlaki battalion of ISIS in Raqqa. She decided who would live and who would die. The United Nations listed her as one of the most-wanted terrorists in 2015, and the U.S. government added her to its death list.
            She fled Raqqa after Coalition forces positioned themselves for an attack. A friend of hers said Jones converted to Islam and that she will never leave Syria. A convert will hold Islam tightly and not let it go. "Because she is a Muslim, she came here and will never leave.” As for JoJo, he joined the Cubs of the Caliphate youth club, where he learned how to kill captives. She pressed her son to decapitate goats as training to behead prisoners. JoJo’s grandfather in England feared that the then-eleven-year-old boy was becoming, in his words, a “lost soul.” A lurid video shows JoJo blasting a bullet into the head of a prisoner.            
            Mom was prolific on Twitter as a leading propagandist for the Islamic State. She was compared to a British recruiting sergeant. In an iconic image, she superimposed her face onto a photo of a nun holding a revolver. She aspired to become a suicide bomber. She wrote in 2015, “I know what I am doing. Paradise has a price, and I hope this will be the price for Paradise.” That price came in October 2017, when she and JoJo were blown to pieces by a Predator missile while fleeing Raqqa. JoJo was twelve at the time of his death. There is no known evidence that mom or son reached paradise.
            What do the American Adam Gadhan, Awar al Awlaki, the British Muhammad Emwazi, and Sally Jones have in common? Several things. By the turn of the millennium, Islamic terror was no longer rare, exotic, or distant. Among the four terrorists, two were born in the United States and two in Britain. Two had unconventional backgrounds: Adam Gadahn grew up immersed in California counterculture, while Al Awlaki spent much of his youth in Yemen before returning to the United States. Sally Jones and Muhammad Emwazi both had common English backgrounds before turning to radical Islam. Two were well-educated—Awlaki was an engineer and Emwazi an IT professional—while Jones and Gadahn did not graduate from college. Several had challenging childhoods, but there was no evidence that they lived in exceptionally cruel circumstances. These were ordinary people.
            One commentator suggested that Emwazi symbolized the successful and subtle infiltration of Western nations. Looking at his childhood, there is no indication that he would embrace violent Islam. His childhood friends described him as well-dressed, confident, polite, and intelligent. He had no criminal record and showed no signs of sadistic zeal. Until he left for Syria, he was considered a success story in Britain. The Muslim Briton escaped poverty and danger in the Middle East to build a new, prosperous life in Britain as a computer scientist. But then, something changed.
            Something also happened to Gadahn and Jones. Gadahn might have been prone to some violence. He explored Death Metal music in his late teens, but that could have been a fleeting phase. Did he bully or harm others? There are no records of serious incidents. Something also changed for Sally Jones. Raised Catholic and interested in music, Ms. Jones shifted from a chaotic lifestyle to a highly disciplined and strict routine. She decided who would live and who would die. She hardened her young son's heart so he would kill mercilessly. And he did. Al Alwaki probably experienced more grooming to become an extremist. He was immersed in Islam in Yemen and brought it with him to the U.S. But he could have chosen a different path. He didn’t have to endorse violence and salute killers. All four of them joined militant Islam, and they never left.  But, what are your ideas? What do you think happened?
Thank you for listening to this episode of Jihad and the World. Our latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available for purchase in July 2026. This podcast does not reflect the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting. 
 

       Hello from Jihad and the World—a podcast that explores the link between Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. This is the ninth episode in a series centered on a single terrorist incident—the December 2, 2015, husband and wife mass shooting of health inspectors in San Bernardino, California. This episode looks at the immediate aftermath of the attack.
          "American blood . . .” 
            Before the blood was washed from the floors of Building 3, ISIS propagandists tweeted their glee over the "blessed attacks" that killed one-third of San Bernardino County's health inspector force. An ISIS leader pleaded, "May Allah Accept Our Brother & Sister who were martyred after carrying out an operation against Crusaders in the USA."  The following month's edition of Inspire would praise them for leaving behind a comfortable lifestyle and being an only child for martyrdom. It showed a montage of pictures of mutilated corpses with a background narrative explaining, “We did this for Allah. The killings filled us with joy.”
 
 
            ISIS propagandists boasted of connections to the San Bernardino massacre and threatened more. Leaders promised, “. . .  when we say we'll kill you in ur countries, we mean it." ISIS praised the husband-and-wife killers, calling them martyrs. "May Allah Accept Our Brother & Sister who were martyred . . .  "The American Blood Is Best and We Will Taste It Soon." "We bless the Islamic Umma for this great slaughter today. The blood of Crusaders was spilled in Paris, and tomorrow, with God's will in the heart of Washington," Musharraf tweeted in Arabic. ISIS's self-congratulation filtered out for days. But in San Bernardino, on December 2, there was panic, despair, and pleas for information. Who is alive, and who is dead? Who was shot? Were they in the hospital or the morgue? Where were they?
             Renee Wetzel, wife of supervisor Michael Wetzel, turned to her women's group, the Lil' Mamas, for help in finding her husband. However, they couldn't assist, and she had to wait eight hours to learn that she was now a widow. Meanwhile, Nicholas Thalasinos’s sister grew worried about her brother. She knew he could be flamboyantly political on his media account. Would he be a prime target for an assassin’s bullet? Ryan Reyes, Daniel Kaufman’s partner, waited for news. He described Kaufmann to local hospitals as "Just under six feet tall and around 195 pounds . . . and one earring on each side-- rainbow bars for gay pride." The following day, the death notice arrived.
            As hours passed, parents and siblings sank into despair. Yvette Velasco's and Tin Nguyen’s parents knew their daughters would call home immediately if they were alive. By late afternoon, these parents correctly assumed that their children were dead. Mandy Pifer, Shannon Johnson's love interest, texted him earlier that day. She did not receive a response because he was likely dead by then. Inspector Anies Kondoker’s husband Salihin was working in Northern California when he heard about the shooting. He tracked Anies via her cellphone's GPS, which told him she was in the heart of the slaughter site. He explained, "I got sick in my stomach and my brain." His wife had been shot, but she would fully recover. But the killers were still on the loose, and dozens of men and women were struggling for their lives near Build 3 of the Inland Regional Center.
The Look of Death
            Medical professionals refer to the first sixty minutes after a serious injury as the golden hour. In San Bernardino, it took fifty-seven minutes to evacuate twenty-two wounded survivors, some critically injured, to a hospital. Initially, the wounded were moved to a spot directly outside the building, but that was deemed too close to an active crime scene. They were then guided to a golf course across the street, which was converted into a command post and triage center. The first fairway served as a helipad, transporting the most critically injured to local hospitals. Victims and witnesses were led on foot, while the injured were transported in golf carts.
 
                People milling around the golf course waited quietly to be debriefed or receive medical treatment. Many stood in stunned silence, while others shared their grief, fear, and tears, reflecting on what had just happened. Conditions on the golf course were rough for the still-shaken survivors. There were no bathrooms, little shade, and the debriefing lasted for hours. Additionally, cell phone batteries were dead or dying, making communication difficult. The main goal was to get the wounded to safety.
            Medics marked the ground with chalk - Immediate, Delayed, Minor, and Deceased.  Those declared immediate often had, what some medics called, the look of death. Characteristics of this look were ashen skin, gasping for breath, and very rapid breathing. Delayed injuries were those to the shoulder and extremities. Many had minor injuries and were treated on site. Many of those released left for home. Most of the injured had been taken to local hospitals. Loma Linda University Medical Center receives the most severe patients because it is the only level-one trauma center in the region.
 
            Just before 2:00 operations, first responders shifted their base of operations from the golf course to the Rock Church, located about one mile away. Police and other first responders continued to debrief witnesses. Residents and businesses offered services and provided food, water, and supplies. Inside the Center, members of Counseling Team International offered psychological counseling. The counselors also helped pen death notifications to the families of the dead. San Bernardino school board members partnered with teachers to protect the children and inform the parents of the situation.
            Victim advocates from the District Attorney's office and the FBI Victim Specialists contacted the families of the deceased and provided them with information on services. They fielded phone calls, made field visits, and began assisting families with funeral/burial assistance. Victim Advocates traveled to various hospitals to meet with the injured victims and FBI Victim Specialists to go over the various services available together. In several cases, a strong connection forged that day between advocates and victims' families led to enduring relationships. Clergy came to minister to the wounded, the traumatized, and those in mourning.
                Political analyst Ian Oxnevad remembers the day clearly. He prevented his mother from leaving his home. As soon as he heard that there were two shooters, he knew it was a terrorist attack. Oxnevad studied ISIS and its tactics in depth. “One shooter may be a man going postal. Two shooters are terrorists.”
Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed it, please consider subscribing to hear more podcasts from Jihad and the World. If any listener has firsthand knowledge of the San Bernardino attack, please contact us. This is very important to us. Our latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available for purchase in July 2026. This podcast does not reflect the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting. 
 
 

Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the connection between Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. This is the tenth in a series of podcasts focused on a single terrorist incident - the December 2, 2015, husband and wife mass murder of health inspectors in San Bernardino, California. This episode concludes the story with a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style shootout in the streets of San Bernardino. This ends the series – The Killing Floor.
“Thelma and Louise”
            While friends and loved ones frantically searched hospitals and clinics for information, law enforcement officers scoured the streets for a black rental Explorer with Utah plates. Federal and local authorities are now looking for suspects who were driving through the nearby cities of San Bernardino and Redlands. There was a time they vanished from surveillance and records. After the rampage, the couple visited a local lake at 11:45 a.m. and then appeared to zig-zag across the area.
            The assailants kept geographically close to San Bernardino and Redlands in what appeared to be aimless circling with intermittent stops. Several people noticed a black SUV with Utah license plates and called the police. Detectives spotted Farook and Malik driving toward Redlands and followed them.
            A Redlands Police Department squad car signaled to Farook to pull over, but he did not come to a complete stop. Nick Koahou, a narcotics officer with the San Bernardino Police Department, thought to himself, “They're not gonna stop; they're gonna shoot it out with us,” and he was right. Suddenly, Farook’s rear window shattered as he fired his weapon toward the police. Koahou exited his vehicle, approached Farook, and went prone at seventy yards from Farook’s SUV. Armed with an AR-15 and years of experience as military police in the Marines, Koahou returned fire, causing Farook to stumble and fall. Koahou kept firing. At the same time, San Bernardino Police Sgt. Ryan Schuelke fired at Farook with his rifle. Sgt. Schuelke used the red dot sight on his weapon to aim as accurately as possible at Farook, mindful that they were in a residential neighborhood with people likely in the surrounding homes. Sgt. Schuelke fired five or six shots at Farook’s chest. One round went through Farook’s torso, creating a mist of blood upon impact. Several armored vehicles responded to the scene.
More than 175 law enforcement officers from various local, county, state, and federal agencies had arrived by the time of the exchange. Altogether, 24 officers fired at least 440 rounds at the vehicle. Riddled with bullets and collapsed on the ground, Farook lay lifeless. But his wife began to fire blindly in short bursts from the SUV’s window. Police at the scene used every gun in their arsenal, including a Mini-14, a shotgun, and a handgun. The barrage of gunfire eventually stopped her attack after thirteen bullets hit her body and two bullets struck her head. Farook and Malik had fired at least eighty-one shots at the police. The killers were now dead. But Koahou felt like someone had punched him hard in the thigh. He had been shot, and as his adrenaline waned, he began to limp. The shootout was a frightening experience for nearby neighbors who watched in confused horror.
 Middle-aged Billy Sirk was trimming a tree in front of his house when gunfire erupted nearby. Seeing Malik shooting at the police, he dropped from the ladder to take cover inside his home. Teenager Mahir Rahman saw his house on TV and immediately realized that the suspects were being chased across the street. He protected his mother by hiding with her in a room until the gunfire stopped. “It felt timeless. It felt like an eternity.” Nearby, local resident Michael was inside a liquor store when police prevented him from leaving. Less than two blocks from the shootout, he heard police sirens passing by the store. Shocked, he looked out the door only to be told by an officer that he had to stay inside because shooters were still at large. Michael later said, "I heard later that day that it was like in that movie... you know, Thelma and Louise. They just went down shooting." The San Bernardino District Attorney's report stated that at least twenty-seven rounds hit Farook, while his wife was struck by fifteen. Ghost Town During the afternoon of the shooting, county leaders shut down all non-essential public services, including schools. For several hours afterward, officials closed many stores and public places and blocked off streets.
Residents had never experienced anything like this before and did not understand what was happening. A journalist described the scene as a police state, and others spoke of desolation. Soon after the shooting, armored police vehicles rolled through downtown streets, some of which were empty of pedestrians. One observer said, “It’s like a ghost town right now.” Redlands also went into lockdown. Farook’s neighbor, “Squeaky,” recalls that afternoon as law enforcement took control of the block where he and the Farook family lived. The sixty-four-year-old, grumpy construction worker, peeked out his window when a team of officers arrived at the perpetrators' home. Squeaky lives seven houses up the block and casually knew Farook and his mother. “I used to wave at her (the mother), and the boy (Sayeed) seemed like a regular kid. He was brought up right.”
Thank you for listening to this series of The Killing Floor. If you enjoyed it, please Consider subscribing to hear more podcasts from Jihad and the World. If any listener has firsthand knowledge of the San Bernardino attack, please contact us. Our latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available for purchase in July 2026. This podcast does not reflect the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting. 

           Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the connection between Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. The podcast series is called The Killing Floor. This is the episode where the killing continues as blood pours, seemingly without pause, onto the killing floor.
Phones from the Injured
            Twenty-four-year-old Kevin Ortiz was taken to the hospital with three bullets—two in his legs and one in his shoulder. Despite his injuries, he called his new bride to profess his love and reassure her that he would survive and return to her. He also contacted his father to promise he would not lose his son. "I'm in pain. Don't worry. There's a policeman with me." Shortly after, the call dropped. Meanwhile, Garrett Lacroix called his father as shots were fired, and panic spread through the center. The fire alarm sounded, and he feared there might be bombs. Terry Petit was worried about his daughter. Then she texted him: “People shot. In the office, waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in the office." The father responded with a text: "Hide. Find a good spot. Hide now." She did exactly that.
            Co-worker Anies Kondoker was walking down a hall when she was hit by three bullets in her arm and stomach. She never saw the shooters and didn't know where the bullets came from. Party-goer Anies Kondoker attended the same mosque as Farook. Both were practicing Muslims, but that didn't protect her from his bullets, which hit her in the stomach and arm. Now injured, she crawled to a bathroom with the help of a coworker who shouted, “There’s a shooter!” Bleeding from several wounds, Kondoker took cover in a bathroom and crouched beside Sally Cardinale—a moment forever etched in her memory. The shocked expressions on the faces of the wounded haunt Cardinale. Their contorted faces capture the exact moment they realized they had been shot and might die.
            Then came screams and prayers in Spanish and English, pleading for God's mercy and for help for the trapped and injured. In the bathroom, bullets slammed into a wall near her, and a cleaning lady yelled in Spanish. Cardinale snapped, “Shut up. You’re gonna draw them here.” The gunfire stopped. Case manager Jamile Navarro whispered that she was hiding in a locked room. “I said, ‘All right, I’ll be there, turn off the lights, don’t make a sound,'” Navarro said. “And that was it.” Her daughter survived. The pair reports that Ortiz was able to make two calls from inside the Inland Regional Center, where the shooting occurred, after he had been shot.
 
            From her office in a building next to the Center, Sandra Wood heard twenty-five to thirty bursts of automatic gunfire. "You could tell the person stopped and reloaded and started again," Wood moved away from the windows and called 911, explaining that there were several dozen people next door and that she feared for their lives. As interim director of the Center, she put her school on lockdown.
            Julie Swann-Paez and lead environmental health specialist Hal Houser were standing for a group photo near a Christmas tree. Houser heard what he thought was a nail gun outside. In reality, he heard the gunfire from the Center’s job coach, Daniel Kaufman, and Isaac Amanios. It was a proud day for Swann-Paez as she was awarded a prestigious honor for her year’s work. Now, she was lying on the floor in pain after being hit in the pelvis. But after a moment, she texted her family, “Love you guys.” It was 11:20. She took a picture of her face as she lay on the floor and sent it to them. But it would not be a goodbye message. Curled up on the ground, she thought, Please, please – just be quiet. Eyes closed, she hoped he wouldn’t come over to this corner of the room again. Her friends and co-workers were dying around her. Benneta Betbadal, who would die that day. The Iranian woman, who came to America at age eighteen to escape religious persecution, died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. She had also been hit in the legs and chest.
            Olivia Navarro received her first call at 11:00 from her daughter, Jamille, a case manager at a large facility that provides services to people with disabilities across the region. “It was one hour until I learnt my daughter was OK,” she said. A text message finally arrived, informing her that her daughter was among those evacuated to safety at a nearby golf course.
            Facing the back of the conference room as gunfire erupted, she texted what she believed might be her final words to her family: “Love you guys. Was shot.” That message haunts her. Houser heard five or six loud bangs outside—what sounded like a nail gun to him, but were actually the sounds of coworkers being killed. After hearing gunshots inside, Houser assessed the situation. “He ran out of bullets and I said, ‘Go,’” Houser recalled. He first moved into a small storage room already filled with two hiding coworkers. As Houser headed out another door, he saw the other side door open, and a shorter person dressed in black entered and began firing.
            Houser ran to a nearby room where 20 others were hiding. There was no way out. Some coworkers hid inside cabinets and under Kaufman’s coffee cart. Houser, Vector Control Program Manager Jason Phillippe, and Public Health Assistant Director Corwin Porter held the doors shut. Minutes later, rescuers led by San Bernardino police Lt. Mike Madden entered and signaled the group to escape to the next building while police searched for the attackers. Two officers, ready with guns, guarded the survivors in another room for 10 to 15 minutes until the building was cleared and they were escorted to the San Bernardino Golf Club across the street.
            Like others nearby, Salihin Kondok dove to the ground when the shooting started. She initially didn't realize she had been shot in the stomach, and she was also hit in both arms. "Bullets were flying all over the place," she remembered. Crawling into a bathroom, she realized she had been shot but didn't know how badly. Elsewhere in the center, hundreds of employees barricaded themselves in offices. Melinda Rivas, a social worker, helped others by stacking furniture inside a conference room and against the door. “I had no idea if I was going to get out alive,”
            After she sustained shrapnel wounds to her head, Amanda Gaspard collapsed while sheltering under a table. She closed her eyes and stayed still. One of the attackers stood over her and shot her in the arm and leg. Then another shooter passed by and shot her again. “They stood over her and could have easily shot her in the head, but we are so grateful to God that they shot her in the leg and arm.” Gina Kuruppu hid at the first sounds of gunfire and screams. She prayed while texting her mom, her niece, and her sister. “Gina, stay low,” her mother replied. “I love you.”
            Twenty-four-year-old Kevin Ortiz was taken to the hospital with three gunshot wounds: two in his legs and one in his shoulder. Despite this, he called his new bride to tell her he loved her and to reassure her he would survive and come back to her. He also called his father and promised he wouldn't lose his son. "I'm in pain. Don't worry. There's a policeman with me." Shortly after, the call dropped. Garrett Lacroix called his father as gunfire erupted, and panic spread through the Center. The fire alarm sounded, and he feared there might be bombs.
             Denise Peraza struggled to call her sister from the conference room. She had been shot in the back and crawled under a table for cover. "I remember it being quiet, and me just trying to control my breathing so that if they were still there, they would think I was dead." Trying to hold back her tears, Peraza called her sister and told her she was shot in the lower back. She said, “I just want to tell you that I love you,” and then she had to go, hanging up quickly.
            But Peraza was not alone. Shannon Johnson held her and reassured her, “I got you.” Peraza, hiding under a desk, was struck in the lower back. Peraza later described how Johnson kept his "left arm wrapped around me, holding me as close as possible next to him behind that chair," Peraza said. "I believe I am still here today because of this amazing man. This selfless individual who always brought a smile to everyone’s face in the office with his lively stories about his hometown back in Georgia... my friend, my hero."
         Thank you for listening to this episode of Jihad and the World. If you enjoyed it, please consider subscribing. If you have any firsthand knowledge of this attack, please contact us. Our latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available for purchase in July 2026. This podcast does not reflect the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting.

 
Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the connection between Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. The podcast series is called The Killing Floor. This is the episode in which the family and a friend plan to kill non-believers at a party.
Practicing and Preparing
            Both husband and wife carried 9mm pistols during the attack. Malik used the Llama Model X!-B, which gun enthusiasts describe as solid and well-priced. Farook’s sidearm was a Springfield Armory XDM 9mm with a stainless slide. As the holiday party approached, the couple practiced firing their weapons at local ranges. Instructors at Riverside Magnum Gun Range remember the two and were not impressed with their marksmanship. After the attack, one instructor was devastated to learn he had given shooting advice to the pair. A spokesman for Magnum Range remembers that nothing about Farook stood out. “He seemed so calm.” On a video surveillance film, he was smiling, joking, and firing at silhouette targets. The spokesman asked and answered, “Could we have done anything different? I don’t think so.”
            The couple dry-fired their weapons in their backyard to prepare for the party and assembled pipe bombs, which are improvised explosive devices often used by terrorists. Like grenades, pipe bombs release shrapnel in all directions when they explode. The Irish Republican Army used them, as did Eric Rudolph in the 1996 Summer Olympics bombing in Atlanta, Georgia, which killed two people. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold of Columbine High School fame had also experimented with pipe bombs. Farook and Malik did not use the bombs they made. However, after the attack, police found nineteen pipes in the couple’s home in Redlands. They also bought GoPro cameras to attach to their body armor before starting their jihad massacre. Likely, they, like other jihad attackers before them, wanted to inspire the faithful with scenes of bloodshed. Their martyrdom would be remembered forever, and they believed they would enter heaven.
            They then went to the garage, which held what the FBI called a “bomb factory” and arsenal. Over 4,000 rounds of ammunition, a dozen pipe bombs, and numerous weapons and explosive components were later discovered there.
 
A To-do List
            They prepared thoroughly for the attack. Farook took out a bank loan of $28,500 in November 2015. He gave half of the money to his mother and spent the rest on household goods. He probably had no intention of repaying it because he and his wife planned to die on the day of the attack. Farook and Malik planned the incident in detail. Mapping out the attack route, Farook drew the venue’s conference room, tables, chairs, and podium, as well as the entrances and exits. His notes included terms like “cover fire” and “suppressive fire.” On November 25, he scribbled to himself, “Transfer $5,000," referring to moving money to his mother’s account. Later that day, he wrote, “2 cars, 3 (unintelligible)” and “10 elbow, 20 caps,” which were pipe elbows and end caps. On November 27 and 28, he was to practice shooting and buy “the rest of the materials.” The next day, he reminded himself to “destroy all electronics," meaning computers and cell phones. On December 1, he wrote “delete email accounts.” On December 2, the husband and wife were ready. They left their child with Farook’s mother, Rafia, and drove to the party armed and prepared to kill.
Where is Sayed?
            Situated near the Sizzler and IHOP restaurants, the venue was the Inland Regional Center. It is a large complex of buildings on Waterman Avenue in an area undergoing some industrial gentrification. New office buildings have appeared in the weed-filled, empty lots and among abandoned homes. Its name is “Serving Individuals with Developmental Disabilities in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.” Its stated goal is to assist Inland Empire residents with developmental disabilities, such as intellectual disabilities, autism, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy. The county rents out the Center’s facilities for professional and social events, some of which are listed and publicly accessible on its calendar.
                In the 1960s, parents of children with disabilities in San Bernardino collaborated with county leaders to establish a facility for local residents with disabilities. Today, the center employs hundreds of staff members, including counselors, therapists, case managers, social workers, and others. Currently, nearly 670 Inland Regional Center employees serve over 30,200 people with developmental disabilities and their families across San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The center also rents out its No. 3 building conference room for holiday parties. The latest data shows it has nearly 670 staff and over 30,000 clients. The center moved to its current location in 1996. It remains active with events like a Holiday Boutique scheduled for Thursday and a Winter Dance for those over 16.
            During the holiday season, the Center is filled with festive activities. Photographs on the Center’s website show employees of all backgrounds dressed in Christmas attire, smiling in group photos and cuddling with Santa Claus. On this day, Wednesday, December 2, 2015, the county’s Division of Environmental Health Services held a training session followed by a holiday party. Attendees placed their potluck dishes on red tablecloths. A large green Christmas tree decorated with ornaments stood in a corner, and holiday decorations hung from the walls and ceiling.
            At 8:00, attendees began settling into their seats while sipping coffee and enjoying pastries and bagels. They were scheduled to leave at 4:30. Chris Nwadike brought doughnuts. His colleagues sat around him at a folding table with a brightly colored tablecloth and a decorative fir branch. They played board games for gift cards. The roughly seventy-five workers in the room held wireless clickers to answer yes or no questions displayed on a large screen.
            Elsewhere in the Center, Daniel Kaufman, the popular manager of the Center’s coffee bar, texted his partner and prepared to open his business. Health inspector Jennifer Stevens looked forward to mingling with her new colleagues and making a good impression. The recent hire shared the party's warmth with her new colleagues. Long-time inspector Damian Meins enjoyed these holiday parties, too. Years earlier, he taught school and liked dressing as Abraham Lincoln at Halloween and Santa Claus at Christmas. A practicing Catholic, Meins loved the Christmas season.
            But not all inspectors wanted to attend the party. Some assumed it would be a repeat of the often tedious training sessions, forced conversations, and tiresome luncheons. Others were cynical about a working party and did not want to listen to lectures. Inspector Michelle Saltis considered calling in sick that day. “You know when you wake up in the morning, or you know something’s wrong, or off? That’s kinda how I felt that day.” Burly, middle-aged Shannon Johnson chuckled to twenty-something Denise Peraza that the large clock on the wall might be broken because time seemed to be moving so slowly.
            Around 8:48, Farook arrived and sat a few feet from Saltis, who remembered, “The whole time, he was kinda quiet ... he was looking at his cell phone ... And then the next thing I knew, I saw him stand up and walk away.” Inspector Patrick Baccari, who considered Farook a friend, approached him and joked, “Ready to be bored?” This was a common joke about the training part of the day. “I’m ready,” Farook replied. The usually reserved Farook was silent that day, speaking only when colleagues greeted him. Farook placed a bag on a chair and suddenly left at 10:37. Later that afternoon, police found a bomb in the bag.
            Reginna Kuruppu sat at her desk on the second floor of Building 3 at the Inland Regional Center. As a 19-year veteran of the organization that helps people with developmental disabilities such as autism and cerebral palsy, Kuruppu was finishing her pre-vacation emails and sending thank-you notes to the center’s supporters.
            Veteran employee Chris Nwadike sat next to Farook, whom he knew well as a coworker. He did not notice anything wrong with his behavior and respected Farook as a dependable worker. “He’s serious with his job . . . He doesn’t play around.” Colleagues saw Farook glance at his phone before he left, but no one was worried. Then, Farook bolted, leaving his bag on the table. They thought he would return soon to get it. It never occurred to anyone that there might be something dangerous inside.
            Bennetta Betbadal was excited about presenting a case study before lunch. She texted her husband about the day’s chores, including withdrawing money from the bank and Christmas shopping. As a practicing Roman Catholic, she loved the Christmas season. In Iran of her youth, she and other Christians quietly and cautiously celebrated in the shadows of fear. But in America, she prayed openly. Statistician Harry Bowman was preparing for his scheduled lecture at the Center. This was to be his first presentation, and he wanted it to be strong and flawless.
                The office leaders began the meeting by reviewing the year’s accomplishments and announcing plans for 2016. It was a proud moment for health inspector Julie Swann-Paez. With a big smile, she was just presented with the employee of the year award. Her supervisor, Michael Wetzel, recommended her for this honor. Wetzel was the supervising environmental specialist at the Department of Health and a father of six. 
            By mid-morning, approximately eighty attendees had gathered in one of the Center’s large rooms. They watched a training video and then moved on to a team-building exercise. More technical training in smaller groups was scheduled throughout the morning. Afterward, they would enjoy lunch. Just before 11:00, the group took an unscheduled break due to a technical issue. Some headed to the restrooms, others moved toward the food, while some remained seated, checking their phones or chatting with colleagues. Elsewhere in the Regional Center, free spirit and job coach Larry “Daniel” Kaufman left his coffee cart and stepped outside. Known for his compassion and patience, he was popular in the Center and loved by the children he helped. His empathy was likely rooted in his own challenging childhood. The division chief had just finished a talk about statistics. The county supervisor announced more hiring for the next year and then gave everyone a five-minute bathroom break. Now, it was time to have some fun.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Jihad and the World. If you liked it, please consider subscribing. If you have any first-hand knowledge of this attack, please contact us. Our latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available for purchase in July 2026. This podcast does not reflect the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting. 

 
Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the connection between Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. Today, we begin the second in a series of podcasts focused on the terrorist killing in San Bernardino, in which a husband-and-wife pair of Islamists murdered 13 health inspectors in 2015. The podcast series is called The Killing Floor. This is the episode in which the family and a friend plan to kill non-believers at a party.
“We pledge allegiance to Khalifa abu bakr al bhaghdadi al quraishi.” Standard pledge to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State.
            In 2011 and 2012, two young residents of San Bernardino planned to kill their neighbors. Long-time friends Sayeed Farook and Enrique Marquez shared many interests common to American teenage boys, such as fixing cars, sports, and girls. But they also confided in each other about their desire to strike out at America, which they came to loathe. The lanky and shy Marquez felt emotionally empty and turned to Islam to fill a spiritual void. At age sixteen in 2007, he became a Muslim and was soon radicalized. He directed his anger towards enemies of his newly embraced religion. With Farook, he watched morbid footage of al Qaeda’s killings. Both drew inspiration from the sermons of the firebrand cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and the Al Qaeda magazine, Inspire.
            The new convert to Islam spent hours in Farook’s home listening to Awlaki’s lectures and reading Inspire magazine, the al-Qaeda publication. Other American terrorists were inspired by Awlaki. Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born imam who had joined Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, often pontificated about the global evil of Western imperialism or the everyday aspects of a proper Islamic lifestyle. Awlaki’s tone was measured, and his sermons were clear. He connected with many Americans because his English was unaccented.
            The charismatic preacher spoke in metaphors about life being a preparation for eternity. “This world is but a station . . .it is the Hereafter, that matters . . . We are travelling . . . We need to prepare for death.” Awlaki called for jihadists in the West to attack soft targets, particularly in the United States.
            Many Westerners drew inspiration from him, including the London Tube and bus bombers of 2005 and Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who killed thirteen and wounded dozens at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the airline underwear bomber; Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square van bomber; and the Tsarnaev brothers, who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing, were all followers of the sheik. An American drone strike killed Awlaki in Yemen in 2011, but his message continues to spread on the Internet. His martyrdom status is secure, and his sermons will likely be circulated for years.
            Inspire, like much of the Islamic State’s propaganda, is directed at disaffected youth. Across a double-page photograph of a brooding young man in a dark room is a caption in verse: That issue included an article called Car Bombs Inside America, which had detailed instructions for building such a device at home. The objective was “maximum carnage” in order to “strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah.”
            Marquez breezily shared his opinions on religion and politics at the local bar where he worked. The tavern has a nautical theme, and its Facebook ads invite locals with pirate slang. “Arrrrrrrr! Ahoy, me mateys! If you haven't stopped in lately, come on in!” Marquez cleaned the bar and checked IDs at the door. After a few drinks, he fell into self-pity, lamenting his obesity and lack of career direction. The bar’s owner described him as “goofy.” When drunk, he confided in regulars that he knew of Muslim sleeper cells in town ready to launch attacks. He hinted at an upcoming major assault, but patrons dismissed his words as bravado. One patron said, “We took it as a joke. When you look at the kid and talk to him, no one would take him seriously about that.” They would be proven wrong. It would be a very serious attack.
            In August 2011, Farook confided in Marquez about his interest in joining Al-Qaida in Yemen. Soon after, they scouted local targets to attack, such as Riverside City College and the 91 Freeway, using guns and explosives. Marquez purchased the two assault rifles that were used in the San Bernardino massacre.
            Farook and Marquez discussed attacking Riverside Community College’s main library or a cafeteria. They both knew the campus layout because they had taken courses there. Perhaps, they would lob pipe bombs into rooms and randomly spray fire. Alternatively, they could toss explosives from an overpass onto cars traveling on Route 91. After disabling several cars, the two would spring from the overpass and aim rounds at stunned motorists. They would then shoot first responders. Police were priority targets.
            Nothing came of these plots. But the basic plan of trapping and killing a large group of San Bernardino residents framed the December 2015 attack. Marquez was not meant to be the trigger man, but he would supply his friends with deadly weapons. This wave of murder would be a husband-and-wife operation, and it would happen at the annual Christmas party amid candy canes, eggnog, and photos with Santa Claus.
            A few of Farook’s close associates understood how deep his hatred for America, the West, and especially Israel ran. However, his coworkers had no clue that he was considering killing them. Nothing in his behavior suggested pent-up anger or any plans to commit murder. Colleagues described him as reserved. Griselda Reisinger said, “He was very quiet, I would say hi and bye, but we never engaged him in conversation. He didn’t say much at all.” Neither his neighbors nor his wife suspected that he or they would cause harm to anyone.
            According to their accounts, co-religionists at his mosque were shocked by his homicidal rage. Those who prayed with him were stunned by his killing. Both he and his wife were quiet individuals. Nizaam Ali, a student who got to know Farook after he started attending the San Bernardino mosque, remembered Farook saying his wife was fully veiled, which pleased him.
Planning – Varmint Rifles and Pipe Bombs
            “A small-caliber rifle, usually 5.56mm caliber, is used to hunt small game.” Varmint Rifle Definition
            The husband and wife carefully planned their attack in advance. There is no recorded moment when the couple decided to commit mass murder. While Farook was distant from Malik, they texted each other about martyrdom operations. As the annual office party approached, the husband and wife prepared to act, and their plan was thoroughly organized.
            Marquez legally purchased the weapons he needed. Farook selected rifles chambered for the 5.56 caliber to kill his coworkers. He obtained one for himself and one for his wife. The 5.56 round can pierce the standard protective vest worn by police officers. He chose variants of the AR-15, a highly controversial weapon. AR-15-style rifles were used in the mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado, and in Newtown, Connecticut. The twin rampages sparked a surge in sales of military-style weapons and calls for bans. Gun control advocates refer to these weapons as assault rifles, while others dispute the term. Regardless of what they are called, few doubt the devastating effects that the .223 or 5.56 mm round has on the human body.
            Much of the round’s lethal power results from its tumbling effect inside a human body. When the bullet enters a target’s torso, it tumbles in different directions, puncturing and ripping apart vital organs. This causes massive internal damage. The 5.56 remains the round of choice for Western militaries.
            The rifles the husband and wife would carry at the Christmas party were the DPMS Panther Arms A15 and a Smith & Wesson M&P15. Malik used the Panther, which weapons experts praise. The National Rifle Association bestowed it with the honor of Gun of the Week in 2013. It is a tactical precision weapon that fires a 5.56 NATO round and has a 30-round magazine capacity. In 2021, it retailed for $1,350 at many stores. Some American veterans chat nostalgically about this rifle, which reminds them of their combat experience in the Middle East. Other shooters are less complimentary, describing it as an adequate entry-level tactical weapon.
            Farook’s weapon, the Smith and Wesson, also had a capacity for thirty rounds of 5.56mm ammunition. This is the same round as the Panther. It is marketed as an easy-to-use varmint killer and target rifle that can be customized for many purposes. Farook tried but failed to modify it to fire in full auto mode to kill his coworkers more efficiently. He proved to be an inept rifle smith.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Jihad and the World. If you liked it, please consider subscribing. If you have any first-hand knowledge of this attack, please contact us. Our latest book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available for purchase in July 2026. This podcast does not reflect the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting.