FBI confirms role of Al Qaeda in Pensacola attack

In a press conference held by the FBI, Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General William Barr announced the results of the government’s investigation into the attack on the Pensacola Naval Air station by Mohammed Alshamrani, a Saudi Royal Airforce officer that killed three US Sailors, and injured another eight. Following the successful decryption of Al Shamrani’s cellphone – which took place despite the manufacturer Apple declined to provide assistance – the FBI reports evidence of ties to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Shamrani had reportedly been recruited even before joining the Saudi Royal Airforce, meaning he liked remained undetected despite checks by both countries’ security services. AQAP claimed responsibility for the attack in February of 2020, and the United States responded a few days later announcing the successful drone strike against then AQAP leader Qasim al-Raymi.

Despite claims by those seeking to minimize the impact of jihadist terror, AQAP has a history of inspiring and directing terror attacks targeting the United States’ Homeland. On June 1^st, 2009, Carlos Bledsoe (AKA Muhammad AbdulHakim Mujahid) killed Private Andy Long, and wounded Private Quinton Ezeagwula. At trial Bledsoe wrote a letter to the judge asserting his ties to AQAP under its then leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi. Bledsoe had previously been recruited to travel to Yemen to study Islam, when he was caught travelling on a fake Somali passport and attending a school linked to recruiting for terror attacks. The FBI later interviewed Bledsoe but took no action. Bledsoe’s father Melvin would later accuse the FBI of downplaying the terror angle in order to minimize attention to possible mistakes made in the case.

In November of 2009, Major Nidal Hassan killed 14 people at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas. While Hassan himself publicly declared the event a jihadist attack, and an U.S. government investigation revealed that Hassan had been in direct contact with AQAP leader Anwar Awlaki, the Department of Defense had the attack characterized as “workplace violence.”

Other attacks originated by AQAP included the so-called “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab whose device failed to detonate, and the 2010 “Cargo bomb plot” although these plots were unsuccessful.

The FBI’s decision to highlight the connection between Al Shamrani and AQAP represents a shift in the willingness to admit the role of Al Qaeda in such attacks and an apparent willingness by Federal law enforcement to again highlight the ability of Al Qaeda to strike the US homeland.