NY axe attack: Islamist link probed
Police in New York are investigating whether a man who attacked two officers with an axe before being shot dead was linked to Islamist extremism.
One officer was being treated for a serious head wound after the attack on Thursday in the Queens borough.
Commissioner William Bratton said police were trying to establish a motive but did not rule out terrorism.
US media indentified the attacker as Zale Thompson, 32, but this has not been confirmed by police.
The SITE monitoring group said he had posted statements on YouTube and Facebook that "display a hyper-racial focus in both religious and historical contexts, and ultimately hint at his extremist leanings".
SITE, which monitors radical Islamist groups, said a post by him in September had described jihad as "a justifiable response to the oppression of the Zionists and the Crusaders".
(continued, gonna need my broadsword the way this is all going, and a cross of gold as a talisman...)
