Woman who sparked San Diego mosque lockdown posts video pleas for help

A deranged woman who caused a San Diego mosque to go into lockdown has been posting frantic Instagram videos begging for help while she hides from cops.

Ala Jaarah, who claims she is an “investigative journalist,” caused the Tuesday lockdown of the Islamic Center of San Diego after police received a report a woman was experiencing a severe mental health crisis.

There were concerns she could be armed, but witnesses at the scene say she spoke with a security guard briefly before driving away.

Officers then swarmed the scene and put out a wider security net as schools locked down in the area. Police gathered at other mosques to bolster security.

The woman posted the interaction on her Instagram. In the video, she appears to run breathlessly toward the mosque before telling a security guard that someone is “trying to kill me.”

She then claims the cops are trying to kill her because she was “talking about Palestine.” “I’m scared,” she says in the clip, “I need protection.”

She then runs screaming through the parking lot, saying, “You guys need to wake up. Wake up!”

By 4 p.m. Tuesday, SDPD confirmed the woman was no longer in San Diego County and alerted other law enforcement in the area where she was last believed to be. The lockdown was lifted, and the Islamic Center reopened for evening prayer.

San Diego police were searching for the woman, who they said is driving a 2015 gray Toyota 4Runner with a New York license plate KGN3027.

She reposted a news story regarding the search for her on her Instagram Wednesday morning. Jaarah also posted a video of her interacting with San Diego police during an apparent traffic stop.

In the video, she refuses to roll down her window, despite police orders, and then appears to flee from the stop.

Jaarah later posted from outside the mosque early Wednesday, harassing a news reporter for allegedly spreading false narratives. The reporter, Dani Miskell with ABC 10 News, refuted that the organization was spreading misinformation.

Miskell commented under her early morning post.

“I spoke with the Imam at the Islamic Center of SD about this situation with running into you this morning. Just know that our presence outside the mosque this morning was because we care about your community, and I hope you’re ok,” she said.

Commenters under her post claimed she is receiving mental health support, and the San Diego mosque invited her back.

Jaarah also reposted another person’s comment on her police interaction. The comment said the San Diego police has been issued a cease-and-desist regarding several incidents related to civil rights violations, and the person added a note supporting Jaarah.

Disturbingly, Jaarah additionally posted a video from what appeared to be a store with guns and tactical gear on Tuesday.

“Get yourselves ready. Protect yourselves because no one is going to protect you,” she captioned the post.

The Islamic Center was the site of a mass shooting on May 18, when Caleb Vazquez and Cain Clark opened fire at the mosque after inscribing anti-Muslim hate messages on their weapons before taking their own lives.

North Carolina student Sarah Lindsey Santiago, 17, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with the hate-fueled mass shooting, according to WBAL-TV.

Prosecutors allege she agreed before the attack to livestream the massacre, distribute the recording publicly, and release the gunmen’s manifesto.

The California Post reached out to Jaarah for comment.

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