Fargo shooter was granted political asylum in 2012

He also received U.S. citizenship in 2019. Add Mohamad Barakat’s name to the long list of people who shouldn’t have been around to commit mayhem on American soil.

Earlier this month, Barakat ambushed three Fargo police officers, killing one and wounding two. He also seriously injured a civilian bystander. Shortly thereafter, Barakat was killed in a shootout with a fourth Fargo police officer. After the incident, police searched Barakat’s car at the scene and found the following, as reported in the Fargo Forum,

In the car that Barakat drove to the ambush scene, investigators found three long rifles, 1,800 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition, a homemade grenade, a can of gasoline, explosives and other firearms, [North Dakota Attorney General Drew] Wrigley said.

The explosives in Barakat’s car were filled with large amounts of Tannerite, an explosive compound made from ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder. If Barakat had shot an explosive, it could have caused significant destruction, Wrigley said.

Barakat is thought to have been on his way to a crowded downtown Fargo street fair when he happened upon the police officers dealing with a traffic accident.

This is the only public photo of Barakat,

Efforts to publish his North Dakota drivers license photo have been held up by some bureaucratic snafu.

According to information provided by the North Dakota Attorney General at last Friday’s Fargo news conference, Barakat was a 37-year-old Syrian national, granted political asylum in the U.S. in 2012, and U.S. citizenship in 2019.

His pre-immigration background back in Syria is reportedly the subject of a federal probe. The entire incident raises questions about the quality of the vetting that went into his asylum and citizenship applications.

The people of Fargo deserve answers.