No Evidence Colorado Shooting Suspect Has ISIS Sympathies
The Claim
Colorado grocery store shooting suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa is an ISIS sympathizer.
News posted on
Emerging story
In the hours following the deadly shooting in a Boulder, Colorado grocery store that killed ten people, information began to surface on the motives of suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa. Starting this morning, news platforms and social media users have been claiming that Alissa either had sympathies towards, or ties to the terrorist group ISIS.
Misbar’s Analysis
No credible news source or official has spoken about ties AIissa may have had with ISIS. Twitter user Jack Posobiec, (who has spread misinformation before) claimed that his knowledge about the shooter’s motivations came from a White House official, yet has provided no confirming evidence. The National Review then published an account from activist Laura Loomer who spoke on behalf of an anonymous source in Boulder law enforcement. While anonymous sources are sometimes vital to big stories, the sources here have not been verified by credible platforms.
Alissa is 21 years old, and his family emigrated from Syria when he was a small child. His brother told CNN that he had at times been bullied for his name and for being Muslim, and this may have contributed to mental health issues and anti-social tendencies. Screenshots captured before the shooter’s Facebook page was removed show that he disliked former President Trump, and worried about Islamophobia and the treatment of U.S. immigrants. VICE reports that he even once publicly mourned the deadly ISIS attack on a nightclub in Paris in 2015 by adding a French flag filter to his Facebook photo.
Barring further evidence, it remains only a rumor that Alissa had any sympathies towards, or ties with ISIS.
