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Widow of San Bernardino Terror Attack Victim Criticizes Trump Immigration Ban

Renee Wetzel, whose husband was killed by radical Islamic terrorists in 2015, posted a Facebook message saying President Trump's executive order 'is against everything this country stands for.'

Published Jan. 31, 2017

Renee Wetzel of Lake Arrowhead, California, whose husband Michael was one of 14 people killed, along with 21 others wounded, in the 2 December 2015 terrorist attack on a social services center in San Bernardino, has posted a Facebook message criticizing President Trump's 27 January 2017 executive order banning refugees and immigrants from seven primarily Muslim countries.

Administration officials used the San Bernardino attack to justify Trump's travel ban order, which has also been condemned by civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union.

Wetzel's 30 January post includes a photo of herself displaying a handwritten sign which reads:

My husband was murdered in the San Bernardino terrorist attack by radicalized Islamic terrorists. I do not support Trump's immigration freeze. #ChooseLove


Michael Wetzel was an environmental health supervisor for San Bernardino County. The perpetrators of the attack in which he died were themselves local residents, a married couple characterized by the FBI as "homegrown violent extremists." The husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, was an American-born U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, born in Pakistan, was a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. They were killed in a police shootout following the attack.

According to a report from the San Bernardino Sun, Renee Wetzel filed claims with the county on behalf of herself and the couple's three minor children seeking damages totaling $58 million on the grounds that Michael Wetzel's death was the result of negligence on the part of the county and certain of its employees.

Renee Wetzel's Facebook post was shared by more than 15,000 people within its first 24 hours online.

Sources

De Atley, Richard K.   "Everything We Know About the San Bernardino Terror Attack Investigation."    The Press-Enterprise.   27 November 2016.

Nelson, Joe.   "San Bernardino Shooting Victim’s Widow Files $58M in Claims Against County."    The Sun.   12 January 2016.

Steinberg, Jim.  "Mourners Remember San Bernardino Shooting Victim Michael Wetzel as ‘Incredible’ Family Man."    The Sun.   19 December 2015.

CBSLA.com   "Local Victims Speak Out For, Against Muslim Travel Ban."    31 January 2017.

David Emery is a West Coast-based writer and editor with 25 years of experience fact-checking rumors, hoaxes, and contemporary legends.

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