After two murdering Mohameds carried out terrorist attacks on Americans Thursday afternoon, Ramin Fatehi, Norfolk, Virginia’s Soros-backed, Iranian-American Commonwealth Attorney, held a news conference to address the shooting at Old Dominion University. In his surreal remarks, rather than condemning the Islamic terrorist attacks that have increasingly targeted U.S. citizens in recent years, Fatehi blamed the GOP’s “cult of gun absolutism.”
Never mind that the suspect, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, was convicted in 2017 of providing material support to ISIS, reportedly dreamed of launching an attack like the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, and shouted “Allahu Akbar!” when he opened fire, Fatehi blamed Republicans.
He told reporters, “This is not an ODU problem. This is a national sickness. We live in a country where people care more about guns than they do about six-year-old children.
“Until there is the political will to break the spell of the cult of gun absolutism,” he claimed, “you will see more incidents like this.
Fatehi went further, urging Americans to “look at our lawmakers who don’t have the courage to implement sensible gun control measures” and at “a Supreme Court that enables them.”
Fatehi’s was simply repeating progressive talking points — a reflexive reaction rather than a serious engagement with the facts of the case. He knows as well as anyone that criminals will find ways to obtain firearms regardless of whether the U.S. has a Second Amendment.
More importantly, his outrage at Republicans misses the larger issue. Islamist terrorism has become an increasingly familiar reality in the U.S., a reality that deserves serious scrutiny.
Consider Jalloh himself. A naturalized citizen originally from Sierra Leone, he had already been convicted of providing material support to a terrorist organization. Yet when he was released from prison at the end of 2024, he was allowed to remain in the country.
That raises obvious questions. Why should someone convicted of aiding a terrorist group be allowed to stay in the U.S. after serving his sentence? And why are policymakers reluctant to confront the ideological motivations behind attacks like this one?
In a recent post on X, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) sparked controversy with a blunt assessment about Muslim immigration into the U.S.: “Muslims don’t belong in American society!”
Ogles doubled down on that sentiment in a second post. He noted, “America is a product of English Christian culture. NOT Islamic culture. NOT progressive culture. If we don’t cease to import islam, the West falls.”
He attached a clip from a previous speech on the subject:
The importation of Islam into this country undermines our communities, our cities, our nation. Christianity is the answer always. Let me be clear: America is and must always be a Christian nation.That isn’t just the opinion of a Tennessean. It’s the conviction of nearly every key figure in our founding, even those who didn’t have a close personal relationship with Christ….America is a Christian country.
Rather than taking offense over his bluntness, perhaps it’s time to admit that the congressman has a point.
The U.S. has long been shaped by a distinct cultural inheritance rooted in Western and Christian traditions. Throughout American history, immigrants have been welcomed — but they were also expected to assimilate into the broader civic culture that defines the nation.
No one is asking immigrants to abandon their faith. But those who choose to live in the U.S. should be aware that respect for our laws, traditions, and freedoms is not optional. Assimilation has always been the foundation of successful immigration policy.
If Americans want to prevent tragedies like the one at Old Dominion University, they must be willing to have an honest conversation — not about the Second Amendment, but about whether Islamist ideology is compatible with Western culture. If Muslims are unwilling to adapt to American society, they don’t belong here.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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