UC Merced stabbing on White House list of ‘underreported’ terrorist attacks | Merced Sun-Star

A 2015 knife attack at UC Merced that wounded four people was included in a list distributed Tuesday by the White House of so-called “terrorist attacks” President Donald Trump and his administration believe went underreported by news outlets.

The 78 events, dating back to September 2014, were circulated in a list in an effort to back up Trump’s statement earlier in the day that the “very dishonest press” often doesn’t report about such attacks. The list included many high-profile terrorist attacks, such as the Paris attack in November 2015, the San Bernardino attack in December 2015, the Orlando nightclub attack in June 2016 and more.

On Nov. 4, 2015, 18-year-old Faisal Mohammad entered an early-morning class with a list of plans that included killing specific students and anyone else who got in his way, according to law enforcement. He stabbed and slashed four people, all of whom survived, before he was killed by a campus police officer on Scholars Lane Bridge minutes after beginning his attack, authorities said.

A review of Sun-Star archives shows at least two dozen stories were published online about the UC Merced knife attack. Most were included in the print edition of the newspaper, including the Sun-Star’s sister papers The Fresno Bee, The Modesto Bee and The Sacramento Bee. National media outlets such as The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and The New York Times also reported the attack, as did broadcast networks such as CNN and Fox News.

“The Merced Sun-Star extensively covered the UC Merced attack story when it occurred and in follow-up pieces as the story unfolded. There is no way it could be called ‘underreported,’ ” said Joseph Kieta, the Sun-Star’s executive editor.

In a statement, UC Merced officials also disagreed the event was “underreported.”

“This incident received significant, substantial and ongoing coverage from every major news outlet in the state and many more across the nation,” the statement said. “We disagree that the media have been somehow dishonest or lacking in their coverage of this and other similar incidents. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous.”

An FBI investigation concluded in March 2016 found that Mohammad had no ties to any terrorist group, and the bureau never formally categorized the stabbing as a terrorist attack.

“After an extensive investigation of all available evidence, no ties to co-conspirators or foreign terrorist organizations have been found,” FBI spokeswoman Gina Swankie said in March at the close of the investigation. “Every indication is that Mohammad acted on his own; however, it may never be possible to definitively determine why he chose to attack people on the UC Merced campus.”

At the time, Swankie declined to comment on whether the FBI categorized the attack as an act of terrorism.

Asked Tuesday to confirm whether the agency ever categorized the attack as a terror incident, Supervisory Special Agent Jason Wandel said, “FBI Sacramento has nothing additional to add to its prior statements about the stabbing.”

An email from Wandel referred the Sun-Star to the White House “for any questions related to the list it published yesterday.”

The White House did not immediately respond to an email from the Sun-Star seeking comment.

Sheriff Vern Warnke said since UC Merced police and the FBI investigated the incident, his office did not take an official stance on whether it was a terrorist attack.

“When it went worldwide, I don’t think you can say that was underreported,” he said.

Mohammad’s family, more than a year after the attack, remains in the dark about the student’s motives.

“The family remains baffled about the reasons for this tragedy as well,” said Daniel M. Mayfield, the family’s attorney.

Mayfield said the White House list is a “diversionary tactic” by the president’s administration after a “disastrous first two weeks of the new administration.”

“The family is sorry that this tragedy is being used in this blatantly political, racist, and Islamophobic fashion,” Mayfield said.