American journalist Steven Sotloff has been killed by Islamic State after being in captivity for a year.
Thirty-one--year-old Sotloff appeared in a video of the beheading of photojournalist James Foley by the terrorist group the week before last. A masked man with a British accent threatened to kill Sotloff unless America pulled out of Iraq. President Obama responded to the killing of James Foley by declaring that the US would wipe out ‘the cancer’ of ISIS.
Last week, Sotloff’s mother made a public plea to ISIS to release her son, but her words appear to have fallen on deaf ears as another video surfaced on social media on Tuesday showing him being murdered.
A White House spokesperson says they have yet to verify the authenticity of the video, but by all accounts it appears it’s very, very real, and — knowing the brutality of ISIS — it’s not entirely surprising.
The terrorist group is holding at least two more hostages, including a 26-year-old American female aid workerand a British man, David Cathorne Haines.
The video is called A Second Message To America, and a masked man addresses President Obama saying: ‘I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State ... despite our serious warnings. Just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people.’
He then threatens the life of David Cathorne Haines. So far there has not been any mention of the female hostage in the videos. Her family have asked that her identity be kept under wraps in the hopes that she will be shown mercy. Sotloff’s capture was also kept secret at the request of his family until the release of the James Foley video.
Sotloff’s family has so far declined to give a statement about his execution and are privately grieving.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.