Source: RAIR Foundation USA, By Amy Mek, May 2, 2025
Exclusive: RAIR Foundation sat down with Tom Trento, founder of The United West and eyewitness to the Garland jihad attack, in a hard-hitting interview where he warns Texans: if Islamic terrorists tried to kill us over a cartoon, imagine what they’ll do when you hand them power to govern your neighborhoods—wake up, Texas, before it’s too late.
Ten years ago, in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, Islamic terrorists opened fire on a free speech event because Americans dared to draw Muhammad. That moment — May 3, 2015 — should have been a turning point in the West’s battle against Islamic supremacy. Instead, it was quickly buried by media silence, political cowardice, and a deepening national amnesia of Islamic terror in America.
Just four months earlier, in January 2015, the staff of Charlie Hebdo in Paris were massacred by Islamic terrorists for publishing cartoons of Muhammad. Incredibly, within weeks of that slaughter, an Islamic group held a “Stand with the Prophet” event at the very same venue in Garland, Texas, calling for restrictions on free speech critical of Islam. In response, the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), Pamela Geller, and Robert Spencer resolved to host a counter-event in the exact location — one that celebrated, rather than surrendered, the First Amendment. That moment — May 3, 2015 — should have been a turning point in the West’s battle against Islamic supremacy. Instead, it was quickly buried by media silence, political cowardice, and a deepening national amnesia.
While the bullets in Garland failed to kill the First Amendment, the real threat never left. Today, that threat has evolved. It no longer arrives with assault rifles, but with land purchases, real estate development, city charters, and Sharia-based political influence. What jihad failed to accomplish with blood is now being pursued through bureaucracy. And Texas is ground zero.
In 2015, Bosch Fawstin, a former Muslim and bold critic of Islam, drew a cartoon of Muhammad holding a sword saying, “You can’t draw me.” Underneath, he wrote: “That’s why I draw you.”
That act of defiance won him first prize in a free speech contest hosted at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, organized by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) with the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s Jihad Watch. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer led the event. Dutch politician Geert Wilders flew in under armed protection to deliver a chilling warning about Islamic censorship. Moments after he left the stage, two ISIS-inspired jihadists attempted to slaughter everyone in attendance.
They failed. Garland police officer Greg Stevens, who had never fired his weapon in the line of duty, took down both terrorists within seconds, despite their body armor and assault rifles. His actions saved hundreds of lives and ended what became the first ISIS attack on American soil. But the real story was not the failed assault; it was what followed: media silence, FBI cover-up, and the West’s refusal to take the Islamic threat seriously.
Now, ten years later, RAIR Foundation sat down with eyewitnesses and survivors to reflect on the Garland attack and draw urgent connections to today’s rapidly escalating Islamic infiltration in Texas.
“We Got Attacked for Drawing Pictures. What Do You Think Will Happen When a City Is Built for Sharia?”
Tom Trento, founder of The United West, was livestreaming the event from inside the venue when the bullets started flying outside.” In a powerful interview with RAIR, he revealed the facts that corporate media buried:
We were attacked in Garland, Texas, because we dared to draw Muhammad. Ten years later, Texas is allowing Islamic enclaves to be built from the ground up, like EPIC City, openly aligned with Sharia. Wake up, Texas. If jihadists tried to murder us over a cartoon, what do you think will happen when you hand them actual governance power over American soil?”
According to Trento, the FBI had been tracking the terrorists for months. He stated that one of their agents followed the attackers to the scene, and court records identified this agent only as “UCI #1.” Trento alleged that the agent told the jihadis to “tear up Texas” and fled after the attack.
“The FBI didn’t just fail to stop it—they were there. The undercover agent drove behind the jihadists and watched it happen. We need full transparency. America deserves to know: was the FBI complicit in a terror attack on U.S. soil?”
As Robert Spencer has previously reported,
Simpson and Soofi were determined jihadis who had scouted out other targets. Simpson, along with Soofi and Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, who supplied weapons to the pair and helped them train, sought information about pipe bombs and plotted to attack the Super Bowl, and planned to go to Syria to join the Islamic State (ISIS), long before anyone told him to “tear up Texas.”
But what was the FBI’s game in telling them to do that? Why didn’t they have a phalanx of agents in place, ready to stop the attack? Or did they want the attack to succeed, so that Barack Obama’s vow that “the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam” would be vividly illustrated, and intimidate any other Americans who might be contemplating defending the freedom of speech into silence?
We twice asked the FBI for an investigation into this matter. They ignored us, of course.
Trento also recounted that the terrorists had timed their attack for when the audience exited the event. However, he said a providential delay occurred when Pamela Geller fell off the stage during rehearsal, pushing the event back by 20 minutes and ultimately saving lives.
He vividly recalled what unfolded inside the building during the lockdown. Attendees, including families with children and elderly patriots, were moved to a basketball court in the center of the facility. There, in the middle of chaos and fear, someone pulled out a folded American flag, and the crowd spontaneously sang “God Bless America” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“It was one of the most powerful patriotic moments I’ve ever witnessed,” Trento said. “We were praying, we were singing. We weren’t going to let jihad silence us.”
Trento also emphasized the warning for today:
RAIR is exposing EPIC City—this insane Sharia-aligned project led by a jihadi right outside Dallas. What do people think is going to happen when Sharia is allowed to govern neighborhoods in Texas? We already saw what happens when they get offended by a drawing. What happens when they control the zoning board? Wake up, Texas.”
He ended with a call to action for the new FBI director or the Trump administration:
“The Garland file must be unsealed. Bruce Joiner, the officer who was shot, sued the FBI in 2017. His case was dismissed under sovereign immunity. That’s unacceptable. A reformed FBI should re-examine this case and remove the immunity protections. The truth must come out.”
Joiner’s lawsuit was thrown out under sovereign immunity — a legal shield that allows federal agencies to escape accountability, even in cases of alleged negligence or complicity.
A Massacre Prevented by Seconds
Trento emphasized that if Pamela Geller hadn’t accidentally fallen off the stage during rehearsals, the event would have ended precisely on time. The jihadis had timed their assault to coincide with the exit of attendees. That fall delayed the event by 20 minutes, saving hundreds of lives.
The crowd of roughly 300 attendees, including families with children, was rushed to a basketball court inside the building, placed on lockdown, and later evacuated to a fire station and then a hotel. During the chaos, attendees sang “God Bless America” and prayed.
“It was spiritual warfare as much as physical,” Trento said. “And the courage shown that day is what America must rediscover now.”
The Terrorists and Their Network
The two Islamic gunmen, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, were roommates from Phoenix, Arizona. Simpson had been under FBI surveillance for years and was previously convicted of lying to federal agents about his intentions to travel abroad and join jihad. He had interacted with notorious ISIS propagandist Junaid Hussain online. The last tweet, sent just a few minutes before the attack, included the phrases “may Allah accept us as mujahideen” and “#TexasAttack”.
According to local media in Dallas, Soofi was born in Garland, Texas, to a Pakistani father and American mother. Soofi, who owned a failed halal pizza restaurant, was reportedly “radicalized” by Simpson. Soofi was brought up as a Muslim by his father. His mother, Sharon Soofi, stated that he was “politically involved,” particularly in matters related to the Middle East.
A third man, Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem, played a supporting role in the plot. He housed Simpson and Soofi, supplied them with firearms, and practiced shooting with them in the Arizona desert. Though he did not participate directly in the shooting, he was convicted in federal court of conspiracy to support ISIL and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He is scheduled for release in 2041.
ISIS quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, its first official claim of an assault on U.S. soil. While officials believe the operation was inspired rather than directed by ISIS, the propaganda value was significant. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter confirmed that the attack was “inspired” by the Islamic State.
From Bullets to Ballots: The Islamization of Texas in 2025
The warning from Garland has gone unheeded. As RAIR has exposed, Islamic groups in Texas are no longer just protesting cartoons. They’re building cities: from EPIC City in Plano to Qariyah of Princeton and Baladeyah in Blue Ridge. These developments are modeled on Sharia compliance, tied to foreign funding, and marketed as “religious lifestyle communities.”
“It’s no longer just about terrorism. It’s about territory,” Trento warned. “They failed to kill us in Garland. But now they’re using real estate, politics, and lawfare to conquer us instead.”
Ten years ago, they came for the organizers of the event with bullets. Now they come with bank loans and building permits.
The only question that remains: Will Texas fight back? Or will it be Garland 2.0, but next time, no police officer to save the day?
Stay tuned for our full interviews with Bosch Fawstin and Robert Spencer — only on RAIR Foundation USA.
Because the future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted. It belongs to the brave.
