On Thursday Somali Muslim Mohamed Barry hacked four people with a machete at a Columbus restaurant.
Mohamed Barry (NBC 4)
Mohamed entered the Nazareth Restaurant and hacked four people with a machete before he was shot dead.
The Nazareth Restaurant was flying the Israeli Flag—
Authorities say they are still unclear on Mohamed’s motive despite the fact he had previously expressed radical Islamic views.
NBC News reported, via Religion of Peace:
The motive behind the attack is unclear. The restaurant’s owner, Hany Baransi, told WCMH on Saturday that he believes he was targeted because he is Israeli. Shortly before the attack, Barsani said, Barry entered the restaurant and asked a worker for details about Baransi’s life.
Law enforcement officials told NBC News that the FBI investigated Barry four years ago after he expressed radical views, although additional details were not provided and agents’ interest in him remained brief. No connections to ISIS have been found, the officials added.
If Barry had been radicalized, that was news to his uncle, Mamadou. He told WCMH that his nephew, who was born in Guinea and moved two years ago to Ohio from Philadelphia, was to have been married in three weeks and that he’d never heard him say anything about carrying out an attack.
