Washingtonpost-- The fighter, identified by the nom de guerre “Abu Salih al-Amriki,” wears khaki fatigues with a holstered pistol in the online video, published by a propaganda wing of the ISIS. He speaks in English with what sounds like a New York City-area accent.
“Take advantage of the fact that you can easily obtain a rifle or a pistol in America,” the fighter says. “Spray the kuffar [infidels] with bullets so that their fear of the Muslims rises and they continue to reveal their hatred towards Islam.”
The SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extrimist militant media, published a copy of the video, in which Abu Salih also calls President Trump a “dog of Rome.”
“You entered into the White House on the back of your crusader rhetoric, which the fake media has pressured you to tone down,” the fighter says.
The FBI had no immediate comment on the man’s identity nor the potential threat of his entreaties to violence. Tyler Houlton, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency “is aware of numerous online terrorist threats” and routinely works with its partners to analyze threats and respond.
The possibility that ISIS followers in the United States will acquire powerful weapons by legal means has been a growing concern of American counterterrorism officials.
Last week, the outgoing director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Nicholas Rasmussen, told reporters that U.S. gun laws are undermining efforts to protect the country from mass-casualty attacks.
“We find ourselves in a more dangerous situation because our population of violent extremists has no difficulty gaining access to weapons that are quite lethal,” Rasmussen said. “I wish that weren’t so.”