San Diego Mosque Attack Investigated as Hate Crime
Why It Matters: A deadly shooting at a California mosque has renewed concerns about violence targeting houses of worship, while a separate federal court ruling has drawn attention to a novel government settlement raising questions about taxpayer accountability.
San Diego police are investigating a fatal shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego in the Clairemont neighborhood as a hate crime following an attack on Monday, May 18, that left three adults dead. Two teenagers believed to be the perpetrators were also found dead in a vehicle nearby, with authorities concluding the pair — aged 17 and 18 — died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl confirmed that “there was definitely hate rhetoric involved,” though he declined to elaborate on specifics. The FBI has also opened a parallel investigation into the attack.
One of the victims was identified as a security guard employed at the center. Families with children attending the school located inside the mosque waited for hours as authorities secured the scene before allowing students to leave. Montaser Barbakh, one of the parents present, said he was shaken by the attack but acknowledged he had long worried about the threat of violence at Muslim institutions. He expressed concern that places of worship are facing increasing danger. Three adults were killed in the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego; both suspected shooters were also found dead.
By the Numbers
- 3 — adults killed inside or near the Islamic Center of San Diego
- 2 — teenage suspects, aged 17 and 18, found dead in a vehicle from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds
- $1.7 billion — size of a new government fund established as part of the IRS lawsuit settlement
- $10 billion — the original value of Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over his leaked tax returns
- 9 — jurors in the advisory panel that unanimously rejected Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI in under two hours
Judge Dismisses Trump’s IRS Lawsuit Following President’s Request
A federal judge dismissed President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service on Monday following a request from the president himself to drop the case. The suit, which stemmed from the unauthorized disclosure of Trump’s personal tax returns, was notable as the first known instance of a sitting president suing the federal government he leads.
As part of a settlement agreement, the Department of Justice announced the creation of a $1.7 billion fund described as an “anti-weaponization” reserve. The administration says the fund will compensate individuals it believes were improperly targeted by federal agencies during the Biden administration. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will appoint a board to manage the fund, and the president will retain the authority to dismiss board members.
The fund will be financed by taxpayers. No judicial approval was obtained for the settlement arrangement. Transparency questions remain unresolved, including whether recipients of payments from the fund will be publicly disclosed.
Government watchdog organizations have raised concerns that individuals convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol breach could qualify for compensation under the fund’s broad criteria. The administration has drawn a comparison to a fund established under former President Obama to compensate farmers who faced documented racial discrimination in federal lending programs, though the current fund is roughly three times larger and was created without court oversight.
A former Justice Department official noted that the Trump administration had previously worked to eliminate similar third-party settlement arrangements before adopting the approach in this instance. Questions about liability and risk in politically connected financial ventures have drawn increasing scrutiny in recent months.
Musk Lawsuit Against OpenAI Rejected
A California jury on Monday also rejected Elon Musk’s civil lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman. The nine-member advisory panel reached a unanimous verdict in less than two hours, finding that Musk had exceeded the applicable statute of limitations when he filed the case in 2024.
Musk had alleged that Altman and Brockman violated a charitable trust by abandoning OpenAI’s original nonprofit mission and personally profiting from its commercial expansion. The jury’s ruling ends that legal challenge.
What’s Next
San Diego police and the FBI are expected to continue their joint hate-crime investigation, with authorities yet to publicly identify the victims or the two deceased suspects. The DOJ’s anti-weaponization fund will move forward under Acting Attorney General Blanche’s oversight, though legal and legislative scrutiny of the fund’s structure and lack of judicial approval is likely to intensify in the coming weeks.