When Genesse Ivonne Moreno opened fire at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston last Sunday, establishment media reports had the typical focus: she was schizophrenic, possibly thought of herself as a man, yet was still able to buy a gun with no problem, and the real problem is that Texas has no red flag law. While there can be little doubt that Moreno was severely deranged, the media reports are ignoring elements of the story that shed light on Moreno’s motives. Now, why might that be?
One reason is that the left’s favorite religion is involved. Moreno made a donation to Lakewood church in 2020 but doesn’t appear to have been a committed church member, or at least a consistent one. ABC News reported Tuesday that Walli Carranza, Moreno’s former mother-in-law, said that “when she first met Moreno, the young woman wore a hijab and said she practiced Islam.” It was also widely reported that Moreno’s AR-15 was emblazoned with a sticker reading “Palestine” and that “antisemitic writings” were found among her possessions, but nevertheless, as ABC put it, “a motive remains under investigation.”
Yet Moreno’s own writings on Telegram, which she posted under the handle “Die Israel,” have been ignored. The ADL paused from its defamation of defenders of Israel who aren’t doctrinaire leftists long enough to take notice of them, but the establishment media, as dedicated as ever to concealing anything that might portray Islam in a negative light, passed them by. Moreno, noted the ADL, “expressed support for a range of antisemitic, anti-Zionist and extremist beliefs and praised U.S.-designated terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.”
And that was just the beginning. Moreno also referred to Osama bin Laden as “uncle” and “made several posts in which she expressed a desire to kill Jews and wage jihad.” These included one on Oct. 21, 2023, when “she posted a video of herself shooting at a target that included a drawing of a Star of David.” Then on Dec. 23, 2023, she wrote: “I always knew I had a purpose to do for Islam and Christianity. We must all come together Christians need the heart that they had back in the day back in the revivals of the old age. But this time to kill all Jews. #warjihad #mywarjihad.”
In the same vein Moreno wrote on Jan. 3, 2024, “I call on all Muslim college people [to] invite me to the next pro-Israel rally I will have two surprises in support of PALESTINE.” The marginal coherence of this sentence is in line with Moreno’s schizophrenia, but her threat is nevertheless clear.
Nor was it isolated. On the same day, Moreno also wrote: “ALLAH is willing, I will .... Jews to send my message to Walli Carranza. Don't worry my MUSLIMS brothers I am pass [sic] the threat phase. I'm in planning mode. Please don't message me private trying to stop me.” This suggests that as recently as last month, Moreno still thought of herself as a Muslim, not a Christian. Carranza’s statement that Moreno was a Muslim when she first met her implies that the shooter later discarded Islam, but if she had done so, she had apparently taken it up again.
Five days after that, Moreno wrote, “Death to Jews in America!” She meant it: on Jan. 15, 2024, Moreno posted a photo that indicated she was planning an attack. It showed her, looking determined and angry, holding her “Palestine” AR-15. The caption read: “In a month they going to get polished.”
The ADL notes that she “also shared content from Resistance News Network (RNN), a radical anti-Zionist English-language Telegram channel that promotes violence against Israel. RNN’s posts include the explicit promotion of U.S. State Department-designated foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) such as Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), as well as many images of individuals with guns and the depiction of rockets being fired at Israel. RNN also provides English translations of communiques from Hamas’ Al Qassam Brigades and the Iranian-funded Hezbollah terrorist group.”
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Moreno also posted commentary from “Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Ansar Allah (The Houthis) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).” This material included “a propaganda poster from Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades depicting a wounded Israeli soldier along with the caption, written in both Arabic and Hebrew: ‘We warned you and you did not take heed.’ The text of the Telegram message, which according to Moreno’s channel appears to be translated from Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, reads, ‘There is no safety for you on our land.’”
Genesse Moreno appears to have been genuinely mentally ill. This should not, however, prevent authorities from acknowledging that she also thought of herself as an Islamic jihadi. The two categories are not mutually exclusive. Yet while we would be hearing no end of it if Moreno had turned out to be a “right-wing extremist,” as it is, we’re unlikely to hear very much about her ever again.
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