US Military Grounds 300 Saudi Aviation Students After Pensacola Shooting Spree

Following the shooting spree last week at the Naval air station in Pensacola, Fla. last week by 2nd Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, who shot and killed three people, Reuters reports that roughly 300 Saudi Arabian military aviation students have been grounded as part of a “safety stand-down.”

“A safety stand-down and operational pause commenced Monday for Saudi Arabian aviation students,” Navy spokeswoman Lt. Andriana Genualdi told Reuters.

Genualdi said the grounding included three different military facilities: Naval Air Station Pensacola, Naval Air Station Whiting Field and Naval Air Station Mayport, all in Florida; adding that while it was unclear when the Saudi students would be allowed to fly again, their classroom training was expected to resume soon.

There are currently about 850 Saudi students in the United States for military training.

The FBI has said that it believes the Saudi airman acted alone, and military leaders careful to portray this as a localized issue which would not affect the overall U.S.-Saudi relationship.

Of course, we are sure this will inflame the left as claims of racism will scream across Twitter faster than bullets from an M16.