US Teen Charged with Aiding San Diego Mosque Attackers by Broadcasting Livestream and Manifesto

A 17-year-old North Carolina girl has been charged with murder by aiding and abetting after allegedly recording and distributing a livestream of a deadly shooting at a San Diego mosque and publishing the attackers’ white-supremacist manifesto, authorities announced on Monday.

Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill said at a news conference in Winston-Salem that the teenager, identified in court records as Sarah L. Santiago, was arrested last week and indicted by a grand jury on three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy.

Santiago’s attorney, Alan Doorasamy Sr., stated in an email to the Associated Press that his client is innocent of all charges, adding that they had not yet received evidence from law enforcement regarding her connection to the attackers.

Under North Carolina law, aiding-and-abetting charges carry the same penalties as if the defendant had personally committed the crime. Santiago is being tried as an adult and is being held without bond.

According to the indictment, Santiago allegedly agreed in advance to record the livestream during the attack, distribute the footage, and release a manifesto written by the perpetrators. She is also accused of purchasing a patch featuring a white-supremacist symbol and sending it to one of the gunmen to wear during the assault.

District Attorney O’Neill noted that only three people watched the initial livestream, and it remains unclear which platforms were used or if the other viewers have been identified.

The attackers, 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez, stormed the Islamic Centre of San Diego on May 18. They were repelled by a security guard who exchanged gunfire with them while initiating a lockdown, an action that helped protect approximately 140 children who were nearby. The attackers killed the guard, Amin Abdullah, and two other individuals before dying by suicide in a vehicle close by.

The pair left behind extensive writings filled with hateful rhetoric targeting various groups, including Jewish people, Muslims, the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, women, and political figures. They cited the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooter in New Zealand, who killed 51 people, as an inspiration and expressed a desire to accelerate the collapse of society. Additionally, Clark and Vazquez reportedly planned future attacks on a Jewish temple and a predominantly Black high school.

In a statement, Vazquez’s family indicated that he was on the autism spectrum and had developed resentment toward aspects of his identity. They attributed his radicalization, in part, to exposure to hateful rhetoric online. Vazquez’s writings also referenced struggles with mental health and rejection by women.

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