‘They Wanted Us Dead’ — Robert Spencer Interview: Obama’s FBI Helped Jihadis in Garland, Texas in 2015

Ten years after the Garland jihad attack, it’s time for our government to investigate the FBI’s role in facilitating an Islamic assassination plot, silencing the truth, and betraying the very Americans it swore to protect.”

Ten years ago, Islamic terrorists opened fire at a free speech event in Garland, Texas, targeting Americans who dared to draw Muhammad. The event, officially titled the ‘American Freedom Defense Initiative and Jihad Watch Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest,’ was held on May 3, 2015, at the Curtis Culwell Center. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer organized it as a direct counterpunch to the slaughter of cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo and the pro-Muhammad propaganda rally held in Texas at the same venue weeks earlier.

In a powerful interview with RAIR Foundation USA, Spencer revealed that the FBI knew the attack was coming. Not only did they fail to warn organizers, they embedded an undercover agent with the ISIS terrorists who carried out the attempted massacre, and encouraged them to strike that target.

 

Despite co-organizing the event, Spencer was deliberately erased from media coverage. Outlets like the Daily Mail literally cropped him out of photos showing all four speakers. “They ran a photo of the speakers and cut me out entirely,” he told RAIR. “To this day, people don’t even know I was there.” The media wasn’t just afraid of the attackers—it was afraid of the truth. Spencer was too dangerous ideologically because he exposed the uncomfortable realities about Islam and jihad that journalists refuse to confront.

Spencer explained that the FBI had repeatedly assured their team that they would be notified if there was any terror-related chatter. Instead, he says, the bureau helped the jihadis pick the target and urged them to “tear up Texas.”

Spencer’s words confirm what documents and legal filings have hinted for years — that the Barack Obama-era FBI was not just passive, but proactive in setting the stage for a terrorist assassination. An assassination that, if successful, would have wiped out the world’s foremost experts on Islam, individuals risking everything to warn the West, expose jihad, and defend the truth that leaders and media refused to face.

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The Garland Event: A Defiant Stand for Free Speech

Held on May 3, 2015, at the Curtis Culwell Center, the event was officially titled the “American Freedom Defense Initiative and Jihad Watch Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest.” Spencer and Geller organized it as a symbolic pushback against Islamic blasphemy laws—laws that prescribe death for criticizing Muhammad and seek to impose Islamic restrictions on free speech by banning any visual depiction of Islam’s founder, even in the West.

It was more than defiance—it was education. The event featured an art exhibit with historical depictions of Muhammad, many taken from Islamic sources, proving that drawing Muhammad was once common even within Islamic tradition. It exposed how today’s outrage is driven by political power, not religious authenticity.

Speakers included Pamela Geller, Dutch MP Geert Wilders (under 24/7 protection and who must live in a government safe house for his criticism of Islam), Robert Spencer, and ex-Muslim artist Bosch Fawstin, who won the contest and delivered what Spencer described as a powerful speech. Spencer recalls: “We even had a SWAT team. If we hadn’t invested in security, the gunmen would have gotten in and killed Pamela and me.”

(See RAIR’s exclusive interview with Bosch Fawstin Fawstin here)

The event concluded without incident—until two ISIS-inspired Muslims, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, arrived in a car and opened fire. Both were killed by law enforcement. No attendees were harmed.

But behind the scenes, Spencer says, the FBI already knew what was coming.

“One undercover FBI agent was in the car directly behind the attackers, filming them seconds before the shooting. He knew who they were, where they were going, and what was about to happen. That only makes sense if he was working closely with them.”

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FBI Treachery: A Chilling Betrayal

Spencer explained that his team coordinated closely with the FBI, which had promised to alert them to any potential threats. “They told our head of security they’d notify us of any chatter. They never said a word.”

Not only did the FBI fail to warn the organizers, they embedded an undercover agent with the ISIS terrorists, helped them select the target, and told them to ‘tear up Texas.’

“The FBI deliberately and willfully concealed,” Spencer said. “They did not tell our security people about the threat — even while they were working with the jihadis and encouraging them to strike.”

According to Spencer, the undercover agent helped the terrorists get there, photographed the scene before the attack, and remained in close contact up to the moment the shooting began. “He egged them on. He was literally heard saying, ‘Tear up Texas.’”

He believes the motive was clear: intimidation.

“I think the Obama FBI wanted to make an example of us — to say: ‘If you defy Islamic blasphemy laws, you die.’ They wanted to scare America into silence.”

Spencer referenced Barack Obama’s 2012 United Nations speech, where the president stated: “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.” To Spencer, this wasn’t just rhetoric — it was a directive.

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Lawsuit Silenced, Evidence Buried

Security officer Bruce Joiner, who was wounded during the attack, sued the FBI in 2017. The Department of Justice fought to have the case dismissed, invoking sovereign immunity and national security.

“They stonewalled everything,” Spencer said. “They claimed it was classified and shut the case down.”

Senator Ron Johnson opened an inquiry in 2017, but it also went nowhere. “Nothing ever came of it,” Spencer said. “It’s always the same: someone announces they’ll get to the bottom of it, then disappears.”

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Islamization by Bureaucracy

As RAIR Foundation USA has repeatedly warned, what jihad couldn’t accomplish with bullets is now happening quietly in Texas through land purchases, real estate developments, legal manipulation, and foreign funding. Projects like EPIC City, Qariyah of Princeton, and Baladeyah—Islamic enclaves advancing Sharia norms—are spreading under the radar, posing a direct threat to constitutional freedoms.

“Ten years ago, they tried to kill us with guns. Now it’s banks, lawsuits, and real estate,” Spencer warned.

Spencer also emphasized that most Texans remain unaware of the political nature of Islam. “Islam is political as well as religious… Texas is going to find out about it eventually, if they don’t stop these communities from growing now.”

Laws like Texas HB 366, which criminalizes online speech deemed offensive, are part of what RAIR Foundation has called “digital blasphemy law”—the next front in the war on free expression.

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Final Warning: Act or Submit

In his call to action, Spencer urged Americans to push past fear and stand up:

“Fear is natural—but it doesn’t mean you submit. If you don’t act, your children will grow up under tyranny. You have to speak out now—or lose everything.”

And he issued a stark reminder to lawmakers:

“Sharia is fundamentally incompatible with the Constitution. That’s a readily demonstrable fact… It denies the freedom of speech, and denies the equality of rights of all people before the law. It sets up Muslims as a special protected class who have more rights than other people. It inculcates antisemitism on a very, very radical deep level.”

He concluded:

“You’re free to practice your religion—but not when it violates the law of the land. That line must be drawn.”

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FBI Must Be Investigated

Ten years after the Garland jihad attack, the FBI has faced no consequences. No internal reckoning. No public accountability. The documents remain sealed. The complicity is buried.

The message could not be clearer: the U.S. government helped facilitate a jihadist assassination attempt and got away with it.

This is not just a matter of historical injustice; it is a matter of present and future national security. If federal agencies can aid terrorists, silence whistleblowers, and escape scrutiny, then no citizen, no community, and no constitutional freedom is safe.

The FBI must be investigated for its role in the Garland Islamic terror attack. Congress should hold public hearings, declassify the sealed files, and expose the full extent of the government’s betrayal. The victims deserve justice. The American people deserve the truth.

Until that happens, the message to every future jihadist is loud and clear: the government won’t stop you, especially if your target is the First Amendment.

This article has been cross-posted with permission from the RAIR Foundation.