Attorney General William Barr on Monday held a press conference during which he slammed tech giant Apple for not doing more to help investigators examine the digital contents of the two iPhones owned by the terrorist who attacked Naval Air Station Pensacola in December, leaving three sailors dead.
According to Bloomberg News, the terrorist assailant—identified as Second Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani of Saudi Arabia—had two iPhones in his possession during the attack. Both devices were damaged, but repaired by FBI technicians. Barr said that the FBI quickly received court approval on probable cause to search the devices.
Investigators have found no evidence that Alshamrani had co-conspirators, but Barr and the investigators in the case say that the only way to know for certain whether he discussed the attack with others is to unlock the phones—which are locked with unknown pass codes and encrypted—and examine their digital contents.
Apple maintains that it has responded to numerous FBI requests for assistance during the investigation, and that their responses "have been timely, thorough, and are ongoing."
