A brutal attack on a San Diego mosque has left the community reeling and the FBI declaring it a hate crime. Three teenagers are in custody. The details are grim.
Sources close to the investigation confirm the teens, aged 17 and 18, were arrested hours after the attack. They are believed to be part of a far-right cell active on encrypted messaging apps. The mosque, a local fixture for decades, was targeted during evening prayers. Five worshippers were killed. Ten more are injured.
This is not random violence. The shooter left a manifesto. It was a call to arms. A war on Islam. The FBI is treating this as domestic terrorism. The political class is scrambling. San Diego's mayor called it an act of pure evil. But the question on everyone's lips is: how did three kids get their hands on assault rifles?
The arrest is a small relief. But it opens a larger wound. The far-right is metastasizing. The community is scared. Expect calls for gun control. Expect calls for a crackdown on online extremism. Expect nothing to change. That is the game. We react. We mourn. We move on.
Inside the lobby, the whispers are about the midterms. Will this shift the ground? The polls are already tight. Now the spectre of Islamist terror is replaced by the spectre of homegrown far-right terror. Both are used as cudgels. The left will demand action. The right will warn of overreach. The cycle continues.
The teenagers are being held without bail. They will be tried as adults. Their names are sealed. But the damage is done. The mosque will be rebuilt. The community will heal. But the scars will remain. This is the new normal. A hate crime in San Diego. Three teenagers. Five dead. And a nation divided as ever.
