Free Republic

An unnamed FBI agent drove the shooter to the Draw Mohammed festival. Apparently he egged on the shooter. Never any repercussions for this. The story was on Tucker Carlson, IIRC. Ray Epps was not the first to engage in this behavior.

In the ongoing debate (or debacle) concerning free speech/expression and Muslim grievance – most recently on exhibition in Garland, where two “jihadis” opened fire on a “Prophet Muhammad” art contest organized by Pamela Geller – one thing has become clear: the things non-Muslims can do to provoke Islamic violence is limitless – and far exceeds cartoons. Writes Victor Davis Hanson, for example: [Pamela] Geller, and not the jihadists who sought to kill those with whom they disagreed, was supposedly at fault. Her critics could not figure out that radical Muslims object not just to caricatures and cartoons, but to any...

At PJM today I discuss the widespread reaction to our free speech event in Texas — yes, you can do it, but you shouldn’t. Franklin Graham articulated what many Christians (and others) are thinking about the now-notorious Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest that Pamela Geller and I organized in Garland, Texas, and that was attacked by jihadis.

On Monday, Mitch Bates, the Garland police chief, clarified details of this shootout between the gunmen and five of his force’s officers. Bates said that the officer and the security guard who were confronted by the armed gunmen were not in a police car, as was initially believed, but were standing by it when the gunmen drove up to a barricade and got out of their car. In addition, Bates said that the Garland police officer, who has not been identified, shot the gunmen and wounded, rather than killed, both of them. Four SWAT members armed with assault rifles and...

I am very sorry to learn from his latest column that Mark Steyn has been ill, but very glad that he has managed to find the energy to comment on the media and political response to the terror attack in Garland, Texas. As you would expect, he is witty and to the point. The title alone is gem: "Stay Quiet and You'll Be Okay" Read the whole thing, but here is an excerpt to whet the appetite:

According to a CNN news report, the FBI sent a bulletin to Garland police three hours before a terrorist attack on Pamela Geller's "draw Muhammad" cartoon event. The FBI's warning included a picture of Elton Simpson, one of the suspects who was killed, as well as his license plate number. Police were told that Simpson had expressed interest in the event and that his social media posts were linked to ISIS. According to CNN's Evan Perez, the FBI stated that it had no indication that Simpson was planning an attack or that he was on his way to the...

The event was spurred in part as a reaction to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) "Stand with the Prophet" conference in January in which radical Islamic leaders from around the United States attacked those who have "defamed the Prophet" as responsible for the rise of Islamic extremist groups and the "world wide hatred of Muslims." The CAIR-sponsored event in Garland took place in January of this year just after the Islamic terrorist massacre of the cartoonists working at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris. Geller's event also sought to commemorate the victims of the Paris attack. According to...

Only argument against the tyranny of radical Islamic terrorism comes not from the Obama administration but from a handful of brave citizens and the careful aim of police It isn’t that Mohammed Cartoon Contest organizer Pamela Geller is getting no protection against ISIS terrorists who threaten her life that should matter most. It’s that she—and every other American citizen—can no longer count on protection against Islamic terrorism from the uncaring President Barack Obama administration. In a world where Islamic threats like: “we will send all our Lions to achieve her (Geller’s) slaughter,” go unanswered and where a president dubs nicknames...

Those who bemoan what happened to Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown often argue that George Zimmerman and Darren Wilson should just not have gotten out of their SUVs. Are they right? Is the best policy really just to see young blacks roaming loose as likely to be vicious, wild animals, unable to restrain themselves from violent attacks on human interlopers? As we all heard Baltimore’s mayor put it, official policy is to simply “give them space to destroy.” Last July in Indianapolis, a black thug with a long history of illegal drug and weapons charges named Major Davis Jr., murdered...

Elton Simpson (on left) , reportedly tweeted minutes before the attack that he and his fellow assailant had pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The FBI knew Elton Simpson was heading to Garland, Texas. It’s not clear if local authorities were notified. FBI Director James Coomey said they may have missed others. Comey added: “There are “hundreds, maybe thousands” of people across the country who are receiving recruitment overtures or directives to attack the U.S.”

The Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack by two gunmen outside Garland’s Curtis Culwell Center. But while the White House has called the assault an “act of terror,” officials said a possible connection to the extremist group remained under investigation [snip] Sen. Ted Cruz, who is seeking the GOP nomination for president, accused the Obama administration of bungling matters, arguing that federal officials should have intercepted the gunmen before they reached the anti-Muslim event in Garland. “Once again, as with Nidal Hasan and the Tsarnaev brothers, we had radical Islamic terrorists who this administration knew about and...

Controversial, intolerant and provocative. Mainstream media outlets broke out these three words to describe the “Draw the Prophet” contest, the American Freedom Defense Initiative and Pamela Geller.

Some are saying I provoked this attack. But to kowtow to violent intimidation will only encourage more of it. Sunday in Garland, Texas, a police officer was wounded in a battle that is part of a longstanding war: the war against the freedom of speech. Some people are blaming me for the Garland shooting — so I want to address that here. The shooting happened at my American Freedom Defense Initiative Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest, when two Islamic jihadists armed with rifles and explosives drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland and attempted to gain entry...

The feds say at least one of the gunmen was on their radar for years. Watch how the suspects, even with their rifles and body armor, were no match for a courageous officer with a handgun: