{"id":113796,"date":"2015-05-04T16:41:16","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T16:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=113796"},"modified":"2015-05-04T16:41:16","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T16:41:16","slug":"us-raid-after-prophet-cartoon-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/05\/us-raid-after-prophet-cartoon-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"US raid after Prophet cartoon attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
US police are searching the home of suspected gunmen who attacked a conference on cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Dallas, officials say.<\/p>\n
An FBI official said agents were collecting evidence at an apartment in Phoenix, Arizona.<\/p>\n
One suspect was identified as Elton Simpson, who had been previously investigated on suspicion of terrorism offences, US media reported.<\/p>\n
Two gunmen were shot dead after opening fire outside the contest on Sunday.<\/p>\n
They drove to the Muhammad Art Exhibit in the Dallas suburb of Garland as the event was ending, shooting at and wounding a security officer before being killed by police.<\/p>\n
Sunday evening’s event was organised by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), which is run by controversial blogger and activist Pamela Geller.<\/p>\n
One of the keynote speakers was the Dutch politician Geert Wilders, an outspoken critic of Islam in Western societies.<\/p>\n
The conference included a contest that offered a $10,000 (\u00a36,600) prize for a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are offensive to many Muslims.<\/p>\n
Officials believe that Simpson sent several Twitter messages before the Sunday’s shooting, including one with the hashtag #texasattack part of which read: “May Allah accept us as mujahideen” [holy fighters]. The Twitter account was later suspended.<\/p>\n
Simpson was reportedly convicted several years ago for lying to authorities about his plans to travel to Africa.<\/p>\n