A North Carolina teen was indicted Monday in connection with the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego in May. Two gunmen opened fire on the center, killing three men outside, all while livestreaming the attack.
According to Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill, 17-year-old Sarah Santiago was one of three people who watched the gunmens' livestream. According to the indictment, Santiago agreed prior to the attack that she would record the livestream, distribute it and release a document written by the attackers. She carried out those tasks, it said, and she purchased a patch bearing a white-supremacist symbol and sent it to one of the gunmen to wear during the attack.
The Winston-Salem teen was arrested by authorities last week and on Monday indicted by a grand jury on three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy.
“The law in North Carolina is clear. A person may be guilty of a crime, although he or she personally does not do any of the acts to constitute the crime,” O’Neill said during a press conference.
Santiago was charged as an adult.
“At this time I can confirm that my client is innocent of all these charges,” Santiago’s attorney, Alan Doorasamy Sr., wrote in an email to The Associated Press. He said he had not received evidence from law enforcement and did not elaborate on any connection between Santiago and the attackers.
In a statement, Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily with the FBI San Diego Field Office said the indictment sends a clear message.
"In today's threat environment, individuals may believe they can encourage or facilitate acts of violence from hundreds of miles away without facing consequences," Remily said. "This case demonstrates that law enforcement will aggressively investigate those connections and pursue accountability wherever the evidence leads, including when juveniles are involved."
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said this is a meaningful step toward justice.
"We stand committed to exhausting every lead to hold anyone that may have played a role in the shooting accountable," Wahl said in a statement.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) welcomed reports of the indictment.
"American Muslims should never have to fear that attending a mosque, sending their children to Islamic school, or gathering with their community could make them targets of violence. We commend law enforcement for continuing to pursue the facts and urge prosecutors to follow the evidence wherever it leads,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
Sami Koudmani, the Islamic Center operations manager, said some parents still feel uneasy about what happened that day. They are still processing it.
“It's a different feeling when you have children versus just the general congregation or some of the older guys," Koudmani siad. "So, you know, there's definitely a little bit of maybe a different sentiment on that side of the fence But yeah, I think all in all, it's like, you know, we're still processing, navigating.”
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On May 18, two gunmen, 17 and 18 years old, drove to the Islamic Center of San Diego. They encountered security guard Amin Abdullah and began shooting. Abdullah returned fire and was killed. Later Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad were killed outside the mosque as the two gunmen fled.
The two also planned subsequent attacks on two other targets: a Jewish temple and African American students at a public high school, O'Neill said. He credited the guard and other victims at the mosque with having saved countless lives.
The attackers' writings cited a range of far-right ideological inspirations, including the notion that white people are being replaced by other populations, and detailed their motives and goals. They included hateful rhetoric toward Jewish people, Muslims and Islam, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and the political left and right.
They indicated they were trying to accelerate the collapse of society. One of the gunmen wrote of having “some mental health issues” and being rejected by women.
San Diego Police and the FBI are investigating the shooting as a hate crime.
