Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is framing the attack on a “Draw Mohammed” event in Texas as a failure by the Obama administration to protect the nation from terrorist threats.
“Once again, as with Nidal Hasan and the Tsarnaev brothers, we have radical Islamic terrorists who this Administration knew about and yet failed to connect the dots and prevent this act of terrorism,” the White House hopeful said, according to The Dallas Morning News.
He added that the shooting “underscores the need for vigilance” and the “Administration’s inability to combat radical Islamic terrorism.”
The attack at the contest held by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a provocative group that’s been called an anti-Muslim hate organization by the Southern Poverty Law Center, ended when a police officer killed both shooters. The two men, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, shot a school security officer in the ankle.
Simpson had previously been the target of a federal terrorism investigation over comments about traveling to Somalia to wage “jihad.” He was convicted only of making a false statement to a federal agent.
Cruz's quote mentioned Hasan and the Tsarnaevs, who were both implicated in terror attacks that they claim were motivated by Islam: Hasan’s shooting of soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas and the Tsarnaev brothers’ bombing of the Boston Marathon. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty of the bombing, and his brother, Tamerlan, died while police pursued the brothers.
Simpson and Soofi allegedly traveled from their apartment in Phoenix to carry out the Sunday night attack. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria took credit for the attack, but there currently is no proof of a direct link. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday intelligence officials are looking into those claims.
