ISIS supporters have been praising the deadly truck rampage in downtown Manhattan following reports that the driver was a suspected terrorist who shouted “Allahu Akbar” just moments after getting out of his vehicle.
Pro-Islamic State channels have posted commemorative posters online — which feature photographs that were taken at the scene and edited images of the Statue of Liberty being blown up.
Rukmini Callimachi, a correspondent for The New York Times that has covered the terror group since 2014, has been sharing the disturbing propaganda on her Twitter page in the wake of Tuesday’s incident.
She has also tweeted out texts that were reportedly sent through the Telegram messenger service between some of the sympathizers, in which they joke about the low death toll.
“Sounds like one of our brothers,” said one person named Abdullah Sami.
“Trick-or-treat New York City. Alhamdulillah Happy Hauntings,” they added, posting laughing emojis, as well.
“If it was my truck it would have been on a much bigger Street,” replied another user, identified as Abdullah Sami.
According to Callimachi, the pro-ISIS channels are “not official communications by the terrorist group,” but they still offer insight into what supporters have been doing following the attack,
“The channels are part of ISIS’ online ecosystem,” she tweeted. “I like to think of them as ISIS weathervanes, showing us which way the wind is blowing.”
Callimachi also noted how a French pro-ISIS group known as the an-Nur Centre Mediative posted a “specific threat against Halloween” on Monday, though it’s unclear if the intended target was in France or NYC.
A commemorative poster, which was circulating online, showed the Eiffel Tower, a machete and blood splashed on the front.
“Typically the threats are more amorphous – “Attack London! Attack Paris!” I rarely see a date on ISIS threats (though it’s not 1st time),” Callimachi said. “The threat was distributed in at least 4 languages. I don’t know what to make of it. We often see threats. Is the date here meaningful?”
Tuesday’s incident in Manhattan left eight people dead and nearly a dozen injured. The driver has been identified as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov — an Uzbeki national whose last known address was in Tampa, Florida.
The FBI and NYPD is investigating.