WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (UPI) — President Barack Obama will address the nation Sunday at 8 p.m. from the Oval Office to discuss the terror attack in Southern California, the threat of terrorism and plans to combat the Islamic State.
The White House said in a statement that Obama plans to update the country on the investigation in the terror attack on a social services facility in San Bernardino on December 2 that left 14 dead.
“The President will provide an update on the ongoing investigation into the tragic attack in San Bernardino,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in the statement. “The President will also discuss the broader threat of terrorism, including the nature of the threat, how it has evolved, and how we will defeat it.”
Obama was briefed by FBI Director James Comey, Attorney Genreal Loretta Lynch, and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson no evidence has been uncovered yet that the shooters in San Bernardino were part of a larger terror cell, according to a statement from the White House. They were, however, “radicalized to violence to commit these heinous attacks,” the advisers said.
One of the shooters pledged her allegiance to the Islamic State, also referred to as Daesh and by the acronyms ISIS and ISIL, on Facebook before she and her husband staged the attack. The group said on its radio station Saturday the two were “martyrs” and “supporters” of IS.
Obama has shifted his administration’s strategy against the militant group in recent months as criticism has mounted, including sending special operations forces to Syria in late October.
