ISIS Claims Responsibility for Muslim Terrorist Attack at Ohio State University

The Islamic State on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack at Ohio State University, calling the student who used his car to drive into pedestrians and then attacked with a butcher knife a “soldier” of the terrorist group.

The New York Times reports:

“The group released a one-paragraph statement on its news wire, via the messaging app Telegram, that included the same stock phrases it has used in previous claims.

Although there was no immediate evidence that the student had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State, or had any other communication with the group, the vast majority of attacks claimed this way have eventually been shown to at least have been inspired by the group’s propaganda.

The student, whom the university identified as Abdul Artan, had warned on social media about what he called mistreatment of Muslims, NBC News reported. If the United States wants “Muslims to stop carrying lone wolf attacks, then make peace with ‘dawla in al sham,’” Mr. Artan was said to have written on Facebook, referring to the Islamic State’s territory in Syria and Iraq.

In the same post, he wrote, “Every single Muslim who disapproves of my actions is a sleeper cell, waiting for a signal. I am warning you, Oh America.””

OSU officer, Alan Horujko shot and killed Mr. Artan shortly after the attack began on Monday. But the sprawling campus in Columbus, Ohio, remained on lockdown for about an hour and a half as people ran for cover and barricaded themselves in academic buildings and dorms.

Eleven people were taken to local hospitals; all are expected to survive.