The very latest on the San Bernadino rampage, including new details on the one male and one female suspects, each armed and dressed in tactical gear, killed by police several hours after the initial mass shooting.
NBC and the LA Times have identified Syed Farook as a suspect in the San Bernardino massacre.
I’ve tried several times to write this post at greater length. It keeps not working. So I’ll be more succinct. What strikes me most about what we’re now learning about the San Bernardino massacre is that it may not be either/or, work place violence or jihadist terrorism. It may be a hybrid of the two.
I was discussing this – highly hypothetical and speculative – with friends on Facebook last night. The thing that jumps out at me about this evolving story is the role Tashfeen Malik, Syed Farouk’s wife and co-assailant. Female jihadis are not unknown but they are not common and not the norm. Everything we know – or believe we know – about the attack is that Malik was not along for the ride in this massacre, either literally or figuratively. She was a full participant in the attack. Indeed, according to several reports, during the final shoot-out she was the one firing while Farouk drove.
Families in the midst of abject grief say a lot of crazy things. I know some of this from personal experience. The same doesn’t necessarily apply to their lawyers. The lawyer for the family of suspect Syed Farouk is raising questions about various details of the Wednesday shooting as well as referencing conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook massacre and whether it was a “real incident” or a set up.
For the last six months, I’ve looked at the Republican presidential primary with one key assumption: Donald Trump will not be the nominee. That assumption no longer holds up. Just after the Paris attacks, with Trump’s rebounding polls, for the first time I could see a viable path Trump had toward the nomination. Since then a couple things have changed that make me think that it’s not just possible but perhaps even likely. I’m not predicting it. I just think it’s a very real possibility.
We take public policy seriously here at TPM. You know that. And we’ve been doing a research project over recent months to understand the impact of monopolies on price and service in acquiring high speed internet access. Well, the verdict is in and monopolies or duopolies make all the big telecom providers grand historic disasters of almost unimaginable dimensions, whose terribleness is only slightly offset by the perpetual comedy of their extreme incompetence. Here’s our report.
Not a surprise at this point. But the FBI has now officially taken over the San Bernardino massacre investigation as an ‘act of terrorism.’
You know what time: We’re gearing for the 2015 Golden Dukes, the 9th Annual Golden Duke Awards, our annual celebration and awards program honoring great achievement in scandal, public bad acts, public ridiculousness and so much more. Look out next week for the announcement of categories, this year’s judges and your chance to send in your nominees.
We’re watching a press conference held by two lawyers who represent the extended family of the suspected San Bernardino massacre attackers. That is, to put it mildly, a pretty challenging position to be in. But, I must say, they are doing about as badly at it as you can possibly imagine. As we noted, one of the two, David Chesley, earlier today floated the idea that not only were we not getting the full story about this attack (certainly a possibility and a reasonable question to ask) but that the Sandy Hook massacre may have been a false flag hoax. That claim certainly doesn’t build a lot of confidence.