FBI Director Says Monitoring Islamic State in U.S. Becoming Increasingly Difficult

The FBI said this week that the recent shooting at a Muhammad cartoon contest in Dallas, Texas is evidence of a larger threat from the Islamic State terrorist group and their influence in the United States. 

FBI Director James Comey said during a press conference on Thursday that there are "hundreds, maybe thousands" of people in the U.S. who wish to join a foreign terrorist organization and carry out attacks on U.S. soil.

Comey went on to say that terrorist groups abroad have the ability to connect with "disturbed people'' in the U.S. who would be willing to carry out attacks on U.S. soil.

"It's like the devil sitting on their shoulders, saying 'kill, kill, kill,''' Comey said in a press conference this week.

During the press conference, Comey pointed specifically to the strong effect social media has on jihadist sympathizers, saying that the FBI "[has] a very hard task" in trying to identify Islamic State recruits in the U.S. due to the power of social media.

The FBI director compared finding Islamic State sympathizers in the U.S. to finding needles in a haystack, adding that "increasingly the needles are invisible to us."

Last weekend two gunmen opened fire on a controversial Muhammad cartoon drawing contest in Garland, Texas, injuring a security guard before being shot by police.

One of the gunmen, Elton Simpson, had previously been investigated for saying he wished to travel abroad to join a foreign terrorist organization.

Sources recently told CNN that Simpson, who carried out the foiled attack with roommate Nadir Soofi, had also been in touch with known terrorists abroad who reportedly encouraged him to carry out an attack on U.S. soil.