The fact that no mainstream media outlet has reported on Claverie’s statement will fuel charges that the press is downplaying the role that Farook’s devotion to Islam played in the massacre.
Claverie claim correlates with a CNN report that explains how Farook had argued with Thalasinos over the latter’s fierce criticism of ISIS.
“One of Farook’s colleagues killed in the attack, Nicholas Thalasinos, liked to discuss religion and politics. Farook and Thalasinos, reportedly a devout Messianic Jew, had a “heated, passionate” discussion about politics and religion a few days earlier, said Kuuleme Stephens, a friend of Thalasinos, who called him at work while Thalasinos was in the middle of the conversation,” states the report.