Motive: "Elusive"

When someone makes a video in which he shouts “Allahu Akbar!” do we have a clue about his religion and his motivation? Not if you are working for the Washington Post ... or the FBI.

Pundit & Pundette quotes the Washington Post:

Federal officials said Melaku had bombmaking materials in his backpack, and they later found a self-made videotape of him shouting “Allahu Akbar!” after he fired shots at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Prince William County in October. [. . .]


.. he had plastic baggies with ammonium nitrate — a readily available material that can be used in explosives and was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing — as well as a notebook that included references to Osama bin Laden and “The Path to Jihad.” [. . .]


But a motive for the shootings — and why Melaku had possible bombmaking materials — remains elusive.

The FBI:

“I can’t suggest to you his motivations or intent,” said James W. McJunkin, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office. “It’s not readily apparent yet.”