Christopher Harper Mercer, the man responsible for the shootings at Umpqua Community College In Oregon, has some information on his social media account that reveals possible ties to terrorists from the Middle East.
On Mercer's MySpace page, he listed himself as a sympathizer of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The IRA is a predominantly Catholic paramilitary group which waged 30-year campaign to free Northern Ireland from Great Britain's control, according to NBC.
The group was responsble for terrorist attacks throughout Ireland and Great Britain, and even attempt to assassinate then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984. More than 3,600 died during the conflict.
The IRA and Palestinian terrorism have a long history.
Even more interesting, is that Mercer only has two friends on the site. While one is a woman hardly worth taking notice of, the second one is a man named Mahmoud Ali Ehsani.
Ehsani appears to be a terror sympathizer if his page is to be given credence. Several quotes from his page read:
"The brave Mujahideen heroes"
"The Mujahideen freedom fighters of Palestine. My brothers and sisters keep on doing your thing. Allahu Akbar."
"my brave soldiers keep on fighting for the liberation of Palestine against Israel. f--- Israel. Kill the Jews. jews are the only infidels."
"The Quran ..... holy book of muslims"
These facts altogether appear to imply that Mercer has some level of relationship with terrorism, if he was not an actual terrorist himself. It remains to be seen if these facts are connected or simply a string of coincidences.
If these are connected however, they would explain Mercer's strong dislike of Christianity and the fact that he came over-prepared to kill nine students - possibly meaning that he meant to kill more.
