hyperbole’s FOIA request is revealing more more information about the search for missing 16 year-old Fasilhullah Safar, whose disappearance caused the closure of Fredericksburg City Public Schools in late March.
A story (15 second clip of an image with audio) discovered on social media purportedly showed Safar holding a firearm, which was obscured by an album cover for a song called “Invade the Invaders” by Al Nasheed. That artist has more than 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. The song “Invade the Invaders” is not among those available to stream. A nasheed is a vocalized form of Islamic music that can include instruments.
According to translated comments on the song’s Soundcloud account, the song is about Musab Al Adani, who is purported to be a Yemeni national that’s also alleged to belong to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. hyperbole is working to confirm the translation of the song.
The emails reveal law enforcement and administrators were unaware if the weapon was real or a replica, and that law enforcement worked with school staff in an effort to identify the setting of Safar’s story, including the Dixon Park and JMHS restrooms, as well as the city’s alternative school. It’s unclear if staff or law enforcement were able to identify the location of where the video was filmed.
“The song and lyrics worry me. More importantly, someone took that picture,” Deputy Superintendent Dr. Matthew Eberhardt wrote in an email to several Fredericksburg City Police Department officers after Safar’s location on Monday, March 24th.
The revelations come after hyperbole’s FOIA request revealed the cause of the concern regarding Safar’s disappearance and attempt to enter James Monroe High School on Wednesday, March 19th. The FBI would become aware of Safar the next day and would work to find the missing Fairfax teen before eventually locating him in Florence, New Jersey on Friday, March 21st.
hyperbole is awaiting the response to a similar FOIA request to the Fredericksburg City Police Department regarding March’s incident.
This story is developing and will be updated with details as they become available.