The FBI says the man who attacked Columbus restaurant partons Thursday with a machete was living in the United States on a green card.
Although the motives remain unknown, Mohamad Barry, 30, a muslim man, may have ties to Islamic extremists.
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Not far from Nazareth Restaurant, one of the only two relatives Barry had in Columbus says he was sleeping, unaware of the nearby attack. That was until FBI agents woke him up with a knock on his door and questions about his nephew and possible ties to terrorism. The relative, who only identified himself as Barry’s uncle, said Barry was a bit of a loner with a bit of a temper. “I know that when he gets mad he, that’s why he wanted to be by himself,” he said. He said Barry was born in Guinea but that his family, including three sisters, lives in Philadelphia. His uncle said Barry lived with him while looking for a job when he first moved to Columbus from Philadelphia last fall. The uncle says he knew something wasn’t right when he received a strange text message from Barry just five hours before the attack. He says the message was in Arabic and English but didn’t understand the meaning. His uncle couldn’t show or read the text because he said the FBI now has his phone. h/t 10tv
Barry’s uncle denies he had ties to ISIS.