The group targeted in Garland, Texas on Sunday is in a “weird sort-of-symbiotic” relationship with its radical Muslim would-be attackers, MSNBC Chris Matthews said on his show Monday night.
“We’re learning more about the gunman who opened fire at an event where an anti-Islamic group held a contest on who could…draw the nastiest cartoon of Muhammad,” Matthews began. “Can you believe that people set that kind of a mousetrap?”
The “mousetrap” in question was an event hosted by the American Freedom Defense Initiative. The “mice” were 30-year-old Elton Simpson and 34-year-old Nadir Soofi, two radical Islamists armed to the teeth with heavy guns and dreams of 72 heavenly virgins.
AFDI’s founder, Pamela Geller, and Dutch politician Geert Wilders were in attendance at the event where they presented a $12,500 check to the winner of the group’s inaugural “Draw the Prophet” contest.
The contest was inspired by the January shooting at Charlie Hebdo, the satirical French magazine.
Shortly after the event ended, Simpson and Soofi drove up to the venue and opened fire on a security guard. A Garland police officer armed with his service pistol took out both men, who died in the street.
Both Simpson and Soofi had radical Islamic sympathies. Simpson had been under FBI investigation since 2006 and was convicted in 2011 for lying to federal investigators about going to Somalia to engage in jihad. He also operated a Twitter account in which he shared messages glorifying the Islamic State.
To explain Sunday’s attack, Matthews dug back into history and pulled out an odd reference.
“I remember the old days when the Communist Party and the Nazi Party would sort of team up in a weird sort-of-sick, sort-of-symbiotic way,” Matthews began.
“One would have an event, the other would attack it, you know? Well, I think [Geller] caused this trouble, and whether this trouble came yesterday or it came two weeks from now, it’s gonna be in the air as long as you taunt.”
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[h/t The Right Scoop, Mediate]