Suspects, Victims In San Diego Mosque Shooting Identified

San Diego Islamic center Shooting — Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune / Getty

Earlier this week, two teenagers opened fire at an Islamic center in San Diego, killing a security guard and two others before killing themselves. Now, the shooters and all three of their victims have been identified, and investigators have revealed more insight into the motive of this senseless attack, which turns out not to be much of a revelation, unless there’s anyone who would actually be surprised that white supremacy was the core inspiration.

The San Diego police have identified the shooters as Caleb Liam Vazquez, 18, and Cain Lee Clark, 17. According to the Associated Press, investigators—who discovered at least 30 guns, ammunition and a crossbow at teens’ residences—found that the pair met online, and that they shared many thoughts with each other that revealed the extent of their hate. However, Mark Remily, the lead FBI agent in San Diego, said Tuesday (May 19) that the duo “didn’t discriminate on who they hated,” despite the evidence seeming to show that they basically hated everyone who white nationalists and right-wing extremists typically espouse hatred for.

From AP:

The writings, obtained by The Associated Press, include hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and both the political left and right. Both express beliefs that white people are being eliminated, and one writes about mental health struggles and being rejected by women.

Authorities have said there was no specific threat against the Islamic center, which is the largest mosque in San Diego and also houses a school, police said. In Cain’s writings, he calls for Muslims to be “exterminated.”

The document includes symbols long associated with white supremacists and Nazis. The two referred to themselves as “Sons of Tarrant,” an apparent reference to the white supremacist who attacked mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, killing 51 people.

Perhaps there is evidence that Clark and Vazquez expressed hatred for “both the political left and right,” but the “and right” part seems to be doing a lot of heavy lifting here. They hated Muslims, women, Black people, and the LGBTQ+, believed white people are the true victims of systemic racism and the threat of elimination, and they seemed to blame women for men’s mental health crisis. Sorry, but this all seems to be consistent with one specific ideology, which is white Christian nationalism, or as we call it by its current brand name, MAGA.

I’ve written extensively about how the Great Replacement Theory—the idea that white people in the U.S. are being systematically replaced by non-white people, especially non-white immigrants—has been promoted by President Donald Trump and numerous Republican lawmakers and officials, and was also referenced in a manifesto left by Buffalo, N.Y.- shooter Payton Gendron, who went on to target and gun down 10 Black people in cold blood. As for the Islamophobia, queerphobia, anti-Blackness and misogyny, again, these are all tenets of an ideology we have seen amplified in the mainstream commonly, and even more so during Trump’s second term, as he himself has made racist and xenophobic hate speech from behind the podium a regular thing.

Anyway, we previously reported that the security guard who was fatally shot, Amin Abdullah, was identified and credited with preventing anyone inside the building, which held some 140 schoolchildren, according to AP, from being harmed. According to the Washington Post, the other two victims have been identified as Mansour Kaziha—known affectionately as “Abul Ez” (“father of Ez”)—who ran a shop at the mosque, and Nadir Awad, whose wife taught at the school. Both men were reportedly shot and killed near the entrance to the building.

All three men were beloved by their community and regarded as pillars and protectors of the Islamic center.

Suspects And Victims In San Diego Mosque Shooting Identified, White Supremacist Motive Revealed was originally published on newsone.com