U.S. Attorney General Barr asks Apple to unlock iPhones of Pensacola shooter (PLUS what is Apple’s defense)

This appeared in The Millennial Source

Following a deadly December shooting in Pensacola, Fla., United States Attorney General William Barr has pressed Apple Inc. to help unlock a pair of iPhones believed to belong to the gunman. In a press conference Monday, Barr stated the shooting, which resulted in four deaths, was determined to be a terrorist attack. The gunman was a Saudi national who was training with the U.S. military.

The request by the U.S. Department of Justice to have the phones unlocked is similar to a request the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made in 2016. At that time, the bureau was seeking to unlock the phone of a shooter who was involved with a 2015 San Bernardino attack that left 16 dead.

What happened in Pensacola

On Dec. 6, a gunman identified as Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani opened fire on the U.S. naval base in Pensacola, Fla., according to NBC News. Alshamrani killed three U.S. Navy sailors and injured eight others, including two Escambia County sheriff deputies. He was shot and killed by additional sheriff deputies on the scene.