Tension at American ISIS Fighter's Reported Mosque

SAN DIEGO, California — American citizen Douglas McAuthur McCain, recently killed in Syria after reportedly fighting alongside ISIS militants, has been at the center of new concerns over home-grown terrorists in the United States. McCain lived for years in San Diego, a city now identified as a hotbed for Islamic terror in the U.S.

While in San Diego, McCain reportedly attended San Diego City College; worked at the Somali restaurant, African Spice; and was connected with Masjid Nur, a mosque located in a highly Somali area of east San Diego, according to NBC news, citing a source familiar with McCain. San Diego’s 10 News has also reported McCain as connected to this mosque.

Breitbart News visited Masjid Nur the day details surrounding McCain’s death broke in the news. Men dressed in traditional attire were observed congregating and vigorously conversing in the street, just outside the building’s front gate. After taking note of this reporter, the men outside the mosque quickly dispersed.

Kenyata McCain, a cousin of McCain, told NBC in a video statement that she didn’t believe her cousin was a terrorist. However, she did speak of his conversion to Islam about 10 years ago, and her belief that he met some Somali men who converted him to the religion and urged his growth in fervency for his Islamic beliefs.

Like other U.S. citizens that have been found fighting with terrorists, friends and family of McCain say they did not know his alleged extremist side. Despite comments that he had once been a smiling jokester, McCain showed another side in social media posts.

Online posts by McCain include the black flag of ISIS and militant propaganda photos, NBC reported, as well as a September 2010 statement, “They are coming back soldiers of Allah.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) James Comey referred to his realization that terrorist organizations have “evolved” in recent years, not only recruiting foreign members, but also “influencing homegrown terrorists,” Breitbart’s Ildefonso Ortiz recently reported.

Comey said that in June, roughly 100 people are believed to have left the U.S. for the purpose of joining the fighting in Syria.