Is Esteban Santiago a Muslim Convert?
Initially, as the investigation into last Friday’s shooting at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida began, a narrative developed that the shooter—identified as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago—was perhaps a troubled Iraq war veteran.
That may still be the case, but a new report, and some troubling new pieces of information, may be taking the case in a direction the liberal mainstream media won’t be as eager to report.
Just hours after the shooting, and as the local police and mainstream media continued to report the “troubled soldier” narrative, Pamela Geller was reporting evidence that Santiago was a Muslim convert who had taken up the radical ideology of ISIS. Charles Johnson at GotNews also quickly reported on Santiago’s more than 10-year history of radical Islamic ideology.
Among the most troubling details: a MySpace page Santiago created under the name Aashiq Hammad. This reportedly happened three years before Santiago joined the National Guard and left for the war in Iraq.
Initially, the investigation was led by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from federal agents with the FBI and ATF. But late Friday evening, the FBI took over the lead role in the investigation—a sign Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel had previously said would indicate terrorism was suspected.
Additionally, the FBI’s lead investigator in the case, George Piro, also led the interrogation of Saddam Hussein after his capture by U.S. forces. He is a native of Beirut, Lebanon, and fluent in both Arabic and Assyrian.
And now, the most troubling bit of news: According to the FBI, Santiago selected Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport because Florida is one of a handful of states where law-abiding concealed carry permit holders are not allowed to carry firearms in the unsecured areas of the airport. {eoa}
