Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Slain Jew Argued Radical Islam and Israel with San Bernardino Shooter

Nicholas Thalasinos, the Messianic Jew killed in the shooting spree in San Bernardino, California, reportedly sparred with his alleged killer over Islam and Israel weeks before his death.

Thalasinos got into an argument with Syed Rizwan Farook several weeks prior to the shooting on Wednesday, which left 14 people dead and 21 injured, according to several news reports.

Thalasinos said Farook “doesn’t agree that Islam is not a peaceful religion.” Farook responded that Americans don’t understand Islam, to which Thalasinos said, “I don’t know how to talk with him,” the Associated Press reported based on an account from a friend of Thalasinos who overheard the exchange,

The New York Times reported that the friend, Kuuleme Stephens, heard Farook say that Israel was not the Jewish homeland and that Jews don’t belong there.

According to Thalasinos’ wife, the couple were Messianic Jews, a faith that combines elements of Judaism with a belief that Jesus is the messiah. Thasalinos reportedly wore tzitzit fringes and is wrapped in a Jewish prayer shawl in a photograph widely circulated since his death.

Police believe Farook, an environmental inspector with the county health department, carried out the shooting at a holiday party for the department at the Inland Regional Center, a facility that provides services for thousands of people with disabilities. Farook’s wife, Tashfeen Malik, participated in the shooting and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a Facebook post, police say.

Thalasinos’ Facebook page is also filled with postings supportive of Israel and highly critical of Islam and President Barack Obama.

On the evening of Dec. 1, Thalasinos posted a message he received from “the ANTISEMITIC BRAIN SURGEON Med Ali Zarouk” threatening him with death and railing against Israel.

“Anyway my new hobby appears to be BLOCKING PAGAN ANTISEMITIC TROGLODYTES so I’m just passing this along to warn others,” Thalasinos wrote in the post.

Earlier that day, he posted an article about an Arab anchorwoman who referred to an assailant who stabbed an Israeli soldier as “my hero.”

“Another of Obamas long-lost kids,” Thalasinos wrote. “ALL ANTISEMITES are of THE SAME SPIRIT.”

The post has since been deleted.

In other Facebook posts, Thalasinos expressed doubt about climate change, railed against Obama for making a nuclear deal with Iran and shared several posts from Jewish groups, including the World Zionist Organization.

On Nov. 28, the day after Black Friday, Thalasinos posted a photo of shoppers lining up outside a Best Buy electronics store with the caption: “Although it SHOULD be SHABBAT – at least Sunday people actually WORSHIP!”

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.