The FBI is investigating after news broke this morning that a violent attack Saturday night in Roanoke, Virginia might have been connected to ISIS. Coming back home to their apartment Saturday night, a couple was viciously attacked by a knife-wielding man who allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” and attempted to cut one victim’s head off. While ABC and CBS’s morning news shows covered the potential terror attack, NBC ignored the story.
As ABC’s Amy Robach and correspondent David Wright reported on Good Morning America Tuesday:
AMY ROBACH: Now to a possible ISIS-inspired attack in Virginia. The FBI investigating a suspect known to authorities and is accused of stabbing two people on Saturday night. David Wright is here with the latest. Good morning.
DAVID WRIGHT: Good morning, Amy. Apparently he didn't just stab them. Authorities now believe he tried to behead his victims. The FBI know suspects this knife attack may have been an act of terrorism inspired by ISIS. An urgent call for paramedics in the immediate aftermath of a knife attack Saturday night.
9-1-1 OPERATOR: There's two patients. One with a leg laceration. He's got a tourniquet applied by police, and one male subject with a neck laceration.
WRIGHT: The couple returning home to their apartment at the Pines complex in Roanoke telling police a stranger jumped them. Witnesses say the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar,” God is great, as he wielded his knife, seriously injuring both people. 20-year-old Wasil Farooqui is now in custody. Sources tell ABC news, the FBI is investigating whether the suspect was trying to behead his victims in an isis-inspired assault. Federal authorities say they've been aware of Farouki the for some time. And that during the past year, he travelled to Turkey and may have tried to sneak into Syria, where ISIS has been recruiting and training foreign sympathizers.
While GMA provided a full report with all the damning details linking this to Islamic terror, such as the suspect calling out “Allahu Akbar” and trying to behead his victims, CBS did not provide a full report. In their newsbrief, anchor Anthony Mason pointed out that the attacker allegedly yelled “God was Great” in Arabic but did not mention ISIS or that he attempted to behead his victims.
But at least CBS covered the story. NBC didn’t think the story deserved even a brief mention. Instead, anchor Matt Lauer talked to Muhammad Ali’s wife about anti-Muslim bigotry “in the wake of some ISIS-inspired attacks.” CBS also did a sympathetic, pro-Muslim piece on a Muslim NYPD officer and his family.
