Blake Hall
When you report that a man named Syed R. Farook is the prime suspect after a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, CA, be sure you have the correct one.
News sites across the Internet--us included!–made the mistake of identifying the alleged shooter with only his middle initial instead of his full middle name. This difference is crucial because there are two brothers named Syed R. Farook, one who was the San Bernardino gunman and one who served in the Navy for four years.
After the error was made by the Daily Beast, it was quickly picked up by several major new outlets. Reporters poured over the wrong Syed R. Farook’s Linkedin page and plastered his Facebook photos onto their sites.
The mistake was uncovered not by reporters, but by stolen valor-exposers Guardians of Valor. When it was found that the suspect might be a veteran, Guardians of Valor decided to confirm whether or not Syed R. Farook served in the military.
From their Facebook page Stolen Valor:
We were asked to confirm service by various media outlets on the shooter involved in the attack yesterday, there is confusion over the names of the shooter and his brother, both had very similar names.. One did serve in the Navy.
Syed Rizwan Farook, is named as one of the suspects, Syed Raheel Farook is his brother. Apparently Syed Raheel Farook(-Rizwan’s brother)served in the Navy from 2003-2007.
Buzz Feed News later tracked down more details about Raheel’s service. It turns out that he is a decorated veteran who won several medals.
[Syed Raheel] Farook is a veteran of the United States Navy with several “awards and decorations,” a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. He enlisted in August 2003 and left the service in August 2007.
Navy records show he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
While the San Bernardino gunman who was killed definitely was not Navy veteran Syed Raheel Farook, some outlets have postulated that he is the third gunman currently in police custody. Until we know for sure, we must assume Raheel is an innocent man.
UPDATE:
The third individual arrested by police was not involved in the shooting at all. Police confirmed Thursday that the person was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Syed Raheel Farook is in the clear.