– 2 SHOT DEAD OUTSIDE TEXAS’S GARLAND ‘FREEDOM’ CONFERENCE

Published May 4, 2015

Two Geert Wilders reportedly armed suspects were shot dead, on Sunday 05/03/2015 noon, outside an art exhibit in Texas, organized by the which featured depictions of the Prophet Muhammad and was described as a “cartoon free speech event.”

Police shot the two men at the scene and a police officer was wounded during the incident, according to Reuters news agency, citing the exhibition organizers.

The American Freedom Defense Initiative had organized the event in Garland featuring far-right populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders (pic), who has been outspoken against Muslims.

“I am shocked. I just spoke for half an hour about the cartoons, Islam and freedom of speech and I had just left the premises,” Geert Wilders said in an email to Agence France-Presse, adding that the shooting was an attack on “liberties.”

According to outspoken AFDI co-founder Pamela Geller, bomb experts were to investigate r.

The men had reportedly opened fire at the art exhibit.

The shooting, an echo of past attacks or threats in other Western countries on art depicting the Prophet, was reported shortly before 7 p.m. at the Curtis Culwell Center.

The two armed suspects drove up to the front of the building in a car as the event, called the “Muhammad Art Exhibit,” was coming to an end, and began shooting at a security officer, the city said in a message posted online.

There was no immediate word from police or other authorities about the identity or background of the two suspects.

The Dallas Morning News reported that critics of the art exhibit, sponsored by a group called the American Freedom Defense Initiative, had condemned the event as an attack on Islam, but that organizers had said they were merely exercising their right of free expression.

Western art depicting the Prophet has sometimes angered Muslims and provoked threats from radicals. In January, Islamist gunmen attacked the Paris offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in revenge for its cartoons of the Prophet, killing 12 people.

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Posts on social media prior to the shooting show that the art exhibit and contest were targeted by supporters of the radical Islam terror group I.S.I.S. One post, on May 1, said, “Brothers in Garland Texas Please go to there with your weapons, bombs or with your knives. Threaten your enemies & the enemies of Allah.”

One of the suspects has been identified as Elton Simpson (pic-LU), 30, who Was Born in Illinois & Converted to the Muslim Religion at a Young Age. In the last decade Eliote Simpsons lives in Phoenix, Arizona according to ABC News. He was convicted in a terrorinvestigation in 2010 related to his intent in the years 2007-9 to join Jihad in Africa, Probably al-Shabab in Somalia , but was given probation. Elton Simpson is believed to be the man who tweeted several ominous messages before the incident,

An account with the name “Shariah is Light”, related to Elton Simpson, tweeted, “May Allah accept us as mujahideen”, just before the attack outside a Muhammad cartoon exhibit being held at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland . .Elton Simpson’s accomplice has not yet been identified, but they were roommates, according to local reporters.

The second shooter was identified later as Eliot Simpson’s roommate Nadir Hamid Soofi (pic -LD), a 34-year-old Phoenix native. Nadir Soofi Owned a Carpet Cleaning Business in Phoenix.
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* I.S.I.S claimed through its social media and web sites, on Tuesday 05/05/2015, its first attack on USA. soil, “Two of the soldiers of the caliphate executed an attack on an art exhibit in Garland, Texas, and this exhibit was portraying negative pictures of the Prophet Mohammed,” ISIS said.

Related topics ;
–
02/2015 – COPENHAGEN SHOOTINGS
09/2012 – INNOCENCE OF MUSLIMS
06/2011 – WILDERS ACQUITED OF HATE CRIMES
07/2010 – MOLLY NORRIS ON JIHADI HIT LIST
04/2010 – MUSLIM GROUP WARNS ‘SOUTH PARK’ CREATOR
03/2008 – CULTURAL CONFLICT

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