Following a deadly shooting at a San Diego mosque, Fox News speculated the two shooters may have been motivated by sectarian differences within Islam, questioned their immigration status, and demonized the mosque. In reality, police are investigating the shooting as an anti-Islamic hate crime — a fact which Fox has buried.
The alleged gunmen, now identified as two teenage boys, shot and killed three people at the Islamic Center of San Diego before taking their own lives on May 18. The victims included a security guard who police praised as “heroic,” adding, “Undoubtedly he saved lives today.”
While the attackers’ motive is still under investigation, police are approaching the shooting as a possible hate crime. Following the attack, law enforcement discovered the bodies of the alleged shooters in their vehicle with “anti-Islamic writing” and “hate speech” written on one of the alleged weapons. Police reportedly also found a suicide note that contained “writings about racial pride” and “a gas canister carrying a Nazi symbol.”
In addition to providing prayer services for its congregation, the Islamic Center of San Diego says its mission is to “work with the larger community to serve the less fortunate, to educate, and to better our nation.” Muslim activist Linda Sarsour told The New York Times that the mosque’s imam is “active in the larger community and part of many national interfaith efforts.”
Fox News’ coverage of the shooting speculated that the suspects were motivated by “sectarian terrorism,” questioned if they were immigrants, and demonized the mosque
Fox contributor Paul Mauro, the first figure the network brought on to discuss the attack on May 18, jumped to suggesting the shooting had a connection to Iran and a “Shia footprint.”
“According to what I see here, it is a Sunni mosque location,” Mauro said. “Why do I bring that up? Because Iran is a Shia nation. And some of the stuff that we have seen lately relative to Iran like, for instance, Hezbollah-linked attacks that were planned to go off here in America, that has a Shia footprint.”
Fox host Will Cain cited Mauro’s comments to likewise point out that “this was a Sunni Muslim mosque” and “Iran is a Shia nation,” suggesting that global terrorism is often “inter-sectarian Muslim, Sunni, Shia.” While Cain admitted “we do not yet know this motivation” behind the shooting, he added, “I want to know is this an American? Is it a radicalized American? … Is it a naturalized citizen? I will want to know about the immigration status.”
His guest, former Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Jonathan Fahey, seized on the opportunity to fearmonger that “so much of our legal immigration has been done in a way that's really not taken the interest of the American public and their safety over the last probably 20 or 30 years, and it's really shameful.”
Later, Fox host Sean Hannity claimed that the “Department of Homeland Security is obviously looking at the people that have entered our country illegally,” but admitted, “I know we don't have any information on that part.”
Host Laura Ingraham took the network’s narrative in a new direction, claiming that “two members of the crew, the 9/11 hijackers, were frequent attendees of this same mosque.”
“And there’s speculation, obviously, that these young men — more young men lost on the internet — and that this in part became an obsession. We don't know yet, we'll find out,” Ingraham stated, adding, “But there is, of course, that 9/11 connection on this horrific, horrific day.”
Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade joined in this narrative the next day, asking former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker, “How much does it matter that two of the hijackers from 9/11 spent some time there, and that they did have an imam that talked openly, being very critical of Israel since the attack on January 7?” (Kilmeade was seemingly referencing the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel).
Swecker responded by calling the targeted mosque “a bit of a lightning rod,” but noted, “These two [shooting suspects] are pretty young. They wouldn’t remember.”
Later on May 19, Fox anchor Bill Hemmer did mention reporting that indicated potential evidence of the shooters’ motivations was found at the scene, but he failed to mention that it suggests they may have been driven by anti-Muslim hatred. Hemmer asked, “There was something that was written that was found in this car, whether it was a suicide note or some sort of manifesto. Do we know about that at all?”
Fox contributor James Gagliano responded, “We don't yet.”
As of writing, Fox News has not alluded to the reported anti-Islamic nature of the writings recovered by the police, even though numerous other outlets have reported that to be the case.
