1. The Islamic State has issued a bulletin on its Amaq News Agency, claiming responsibility for the attack in Toronto which left two dead. The shooter is described as “a soldier of the Islamic State” & they say he responded to “the call” to target citizens of Coalition countries 
2. The phrasing regarding “responding to calls to target citizens of Coalition countries” is a reference to a famous 2014 speech by Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the group’s spokesman. In that speech, Adnani enjoined ISIS’ supporters around the world to attack in their communities
3. Adnani encouraged the group’s sympathizers to attack in any way they could. When I see that phrasing in an ISIS claim, I know that the terror group views the attacker as having been ***inspired*** by their propaganda, rather than someone they trained in person.
4. They are essentially saying that Faisal Hussain, the 29-year-old who opened fire, was self-radicalized. The same formulation was used in the ISIS claims for other well-known inspired attacks around the world including the Nice attack which left 86 people dead & injured 458
5. The shooter’s family has come out and said that he was mentally ill. Unfortunately we know that ISIS pushes its propaganda to people who are mentally vulnerable and mental illness is not a barrier to being indoctrinated by them. See the case of the Rochester attacker:
6. Emanuel Lutchman was described as mentally ill by his family & lawyers. That didn’t stop one of ISIS’ most famous virtual plotters, Abu Issa al-Amriki, from contacting him online. Together they plotted an attack on a bar on New Year’s Eve in Rochester: amp.democratandchronicle.com/amp/392113001
7. As a reporter studying this attack, what I want to know is what did Police find on his phone and on his laptop? Specifically, did he have Telegram, the group’s preferred messaging app? Who (if anyone) was he talking to? Is there evidence of him consuming ISIS propaganda?
8. Citing a police source, Global News reports that the gunman committed suicide. If so, this is an important clue suggesting Hussain was not an ISIS-inspired attacker. As @CruickshankPaul and others have explained, suicide is a big no-no for jihadists. globalnews.ca/news/4353391/t…
