The group published an image of the National Cathedral in flames with "a camouflage-clad jihadist wielding a rifle standing in front of the Gothic structure" on its social media channels, PJ Media's Bridget Johnson reported Friday.
#News ISIS spooks Washington with image of armed gunman outside the National Cathedral https://t.co/qxQmewy6MJ #TCOT pic.twitter.com/ZwN6H8q8pS
— The Briefing Room (@Briefing__Room) December 15, 2017
The text on the poster states, rather confusingly, "wait for us: we meet at Christmas in New York." New York has been the target of two attempted terror attacks in recent months; Washington so far has not.
Akayed Ullah, a young Bangladesh native and self-described Daesh supporter, attempted a suicide bombing in New York City's Time Square this week. "I did it for the Islamic state," Ullah told the police, according to court documents, after detonating a pipe bomb that wound up injuring Ullah and three others but did not result in fatalities.
On November 1, Uzbek national Sayfullo Saipov, 29, killed eight people in Manhattan by running them over with a rented Home Depot pick-up truck. Saipov shouted "Allahu Akbar" before sustaining a non-lethal gunshot wound from a New York police officer.
Last December, Daesh published a list of thousands of Christian places of worship for terrorists to strike. The jihadist group called for peaceful Christian celebrations to be turned into a "bloody horror movie" and for "bloody celebrations in the Christian New Year," Sputnik News reported.
Daesh claimed responsibility for inspiring a truck attack at a Christmas market in Breitscheidplatz, Berlin, that killed a dozen people last December and injured at least 49.
