Winter Park Law Firm Brings Suit Against Saudi Arabia

  The Maher Law Firm of Winter Park is suing Saudi Arabia for the 2019 Islamic terrorist attack at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. The shooting took the lives of three U.S. service members and injured several others. One of half a dozen bringing the lawsuit, the firm filed the 152-page complaint in federal court Monday in an effort to bring closure and justice to the families of victims.

  According to the suit, the Saudi Arabian government possessed information that the NAS Pensacola shooter, Royal Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Al-Shamrani, held strong anti-American opinions and harbored alliances with a terrorist group prior to his entry into the U.S. “Saudi Arabia originally acknowledged it was one of their individuals,” said Matthew Mokwa, an attorney with the Maher firm. “They apologized. They made very express representations that they were going to take care of the families of the victims and offered their condolences.”

  Despite the pledge of support to the families, the firm relayed that Saudi Arabia failed in following through on this commitment. Survivors suffering with PTSD and mental health problems, in addition to mourning family members, articulated their shock and frustration:  “We were robbed of such a precious gift, snuffed out in a moment from hatred and bitterness,” said one of the parents of a slain service member. “Our family lost a lot, and our country lost a lot.”

  Authorities killed Al-Shamrani in the midst of the attack, though the presence of law enforcement came too late for many victims. Al-Shamrani conspired with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and accepted financing from Saudi Arabia to bolster the country's position in the Yemen civil war, according to the lawsuit.

  The firm alleges that even a basic background check by Saudi Arabia could have stopped the shooting. Al-Shamrani and his fellow cadets traveled to New York on December 6, 2019 to honor the hijackers who crashed their planes into the World Trade Center on 9/11, according to the complaint. The suit also alleges that Al-Shamrani put on a dinner for his fellow trainees and divulged his plot.

   Instead of stepping in to upend Al-Shamrani, the suit states that the cadets stood idly by all while hundreds of shots rang out from the barrel of his semi-automatic pistol. What's more, the complaint also paints a picture of active complicity, with some cadets taking a video of the massacre itself.

  The Justice Department originally concluded the assault to be spontaneous and not inclusive of conspiratorial elements. However, Mokwa says the document does not contradict the DOJ, as prior statements from the the Department were made without access to the complaint's new insights.