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ByEileenSullivan,Eric Tucker and Ryan Van Velzer TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON Since at least 2007, the FBI has been able to recognize the voice of Elton Simpson — one of the men suspected in the Texas shootings outside a contest featuring cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Mu- hammad. Agents recorded the young man from Phoe- nix talking about fight- ing nonbelievers for Al- lah. About plans to travel to South Africa and link up with "brothers" in So- malia. About using school as a cover story for travel- ing overseas. Simpson was arrested in 2010, one day before au- thorities say he planned to leave for South Africa. But despite more than 1,500 hours of recorded conver- sations, the government prosecuted him on only one minor charge — lying to a federal agent. Years spent investigating Simp- son for terrorism ties re- sulted in three years of probation and $600 in fines and court fees. Then, on Sunday, two men whom authorities identified as Simpson and Nadir Soofi opened fire in a Dallas suburb on a security officer stationed outside the contest. The officials spoke only on condition of ano- nymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation by name. The deliberately provoc- ative contest had been ex- pected to draw outrage from the Muslim commu- nity. According to main- stream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad — even a respectful one — is considered blasphe- mous, and drawings simi- lar to those featured at the Texas event have sparked violence around the world. Simpson and Soofi were wearing body armor, and one shot the guard in the leg. A police officer re- turned fire and struck both men, who eventually died as SWAT team members also started firing at them. The guard was treated for his injury at a hospital and released. Simpson, described as quiet and devout, had been on the radar of law enforce- ment because of his social media presence, but au- thorities did not have an in- dication that he was plot- ting an attack, said one fed- eral official familiar with the investigation. Less was known about Soofi who ap- peared to have never been prosecuted in federal court, according to a search of court records. Simpson had worshipped at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix for about a decade, but he quit show- ing up over the past two or three months, the president of the mosque told The As- sociated Press. A convert to Islam, Simp- son first attracted the FBI's attention in 2006 because of his ties to Hassan Abu Jihaad, a former U.S. Navy sailor who had been ar- rested in Phoenix and was ultimately convicted of ter- rorism-related charges, ac- cording to court records. Jihaad was accused of leak- ing details about his ship's movements to operators of a website in London that openly espoused violent ji- had against the U.S. In the fall of that year, the FBI asked one of its in- formants, Dabla Deng, a Sudanese immigrant, to befriend Simpson and ask for advice about Islam. Deng had been working as an FBI informant since 2005 and was instructed to tell Simpson he was a re- cent convert to the religion. Over the next few years, Deng would tape his con- versations with Simpson with a hidden recording device accumulating more than 1,500 hours of conver- sations, according to court records. "I'm telling you, man, we can make it to the battle- field," Simpson is recorded saying on May 29, 2009. "It's time to roll." In court, prosecutors presented only 17 minutes and 31 seconds during Simpson's trial, according to court documents. "I have to say that I felt like these charges were completely trumped up, that they were just try- ing to cover up what had been a very long and expen- sive investigation and they just couldn't leave with- out some sort of charges," Simpson's attorney, Kris- tina Sitton said. Sitton described Simpson as so devout that he would not even shake her hand and would sometimes inter- rupt their legal meetings so he could pray. She said she had no indication that he was capable of violence and assumed he just "snapped." CARTOON CONTEST Accused gunman well-known to FBI before attack in Texas BRANDONWADE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS FBI crime scene investigators document evidence outside the Curtis Culwell Center, Monday in Garland, Texas. Two men opened fire with assault weapons on police Sunday night who were guarding a contest for Muslim Prophet Muhammed cartoons. A police officer returned fire killing both men. By Dana Ferguson The Associated Press MENASHA, WIS. The Stof- fel family set out on a bike ride on a beautiful spring evening, the young Wiscon- sin couple and their three children pedaling across a bridge they had ridden be- fore. They were halfway across the Little Lake Butte des Morts when a gunman, apparently upset over a fight with his ex-fiancee, opened fire. By the time the gunman shot himself, Jonathan Stof- fel, 33, of Neenah, and his 11-year-old daughter, Olivia Stoffel, were dead in what police called a random at- tack. Stoffel's wife, Erin Stoffel, 32, was struck three times but survived, guid- ing her other two children, ages 5 and 7, off the bridge and sending the older one for help. Another man, Adam Bentdahl, 31, of Appleton, was also killed in the at- tack Sunday in Menasha, a community of around 17,000 about 30 miles south of Green Bay. Police identified the gun- man as 27-year-old military veteran Sergio Daniel Va- lencia del Toro, and said he apparently was upset over a fight with his ex-fiancee ear- lier in the day. "They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Menasha Police Chief Tim Styka said of the Stof- fels and Bentdahl. Erin Stoffel was rushed into surgery at a nearby hospital and was in critical condition Monday. Jim Campbell, Erin Stof- fel's brother, said in a phone interview that his sister and Jonathan Stoffel had been married for more than a decade. Jonathan worked multiple jobs — including construction work, garden- ing and remodeling — and enjoyed the outdoors, espe- cially fishing. Campbell said Olivia was a bright child who loved her siblings and nature. He said Erin is a "die-hard mom." The family often went camping, fishing and walk- ing together, he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I don't know why it hap- pened," Campbell said of the attack. "I don't know the motive. I feel sorry for the shooter's family." Bentdahl's family said he had "a bright personal- ity and was a kind and gen- tle person." "Our prayers go out to the other family who lost their father and daughter, and mother who is strug- gling for life along with the man who took his own life," they said in a statement. Valencia del Toro had served in the Air Force. It's unclear whether he ever served overseas, accord- ing to Air Force officials. A U.S. Army spokesman said he joined the Michigan Na- tional Guard after he left the Air Force in March 2014. He joined the Wis- consin National Guard in March 2015. RANDOM ATTACK Wi sc on si n fa mi ly 's b ik e ri de turns deadly as shooting erupts RICHARD DREW — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President Barack Obama speaks at Lehman College in the Bronx borough of New York, on Monday. By Nedra Pickler and Jim Kuhnhenn The Associated Press NEW YORK In a deeply personal response to out- breaks of racially moti- vated protests, President Barack Obama on Monday blamed a lack of opportu- nity in minority communi- ties and harsher treatment of black and Hispanic men by police for fueling a sense of "unfairness and power- lessness." The country's first black president called for a na- tionwide mobilization to re- verse inequalities and said the cause will remain a mis- sion for the rest of his pres- idency and his life. "There are consequences to indif- ference," Obama said. Helping launch a foun- dation to assist young mi- norities, Obama said the catalysts of protests in Fer- guson, Missouri, and in Bal- timore were the deaths of black young men and "a feel- ing that law is not always ap- plied evenly in this country." But he said a broader sense of hopelessness is at the root of the periodic eruptions in poor commu- nities. "We ask police to go into communities where there is no hope," he said. "Even- tually, something happens because of the tension be- tween society and these communities, and the po- lice are just on the front lines of that." The new organization, My Brother's Keeper Alli- ance, is an outgrowth of Obama's year-old My Broth- er's Keeper initiative, which has focused on federal gov- ernment policies and grants designed to increase access to education and jobs. While the effort predates the tensions in Baltimore that erupted after the death of Freddie Gray while in po- lice custody, the significance of the new private-sector al- liance has been magnified by the spotlight the riots in the city placed on low-in- come neighborhoods. Over the past year, Obama has been called on to re- spond to what he last week referred to as the "slow-roll- ing crisis" of police relations with minority communities. 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