Two teenaged gunmen recently opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego, killing a security guard and two staff members before being found with fatal self-inflicted wounds in a nearby vehicle.

Like so many recent extremist mass shootings, they livestreamed the attack and, uniquely, even livestreamed their suicides.

Police say one shooter’s mother had earlier reported him missing, suicidal and in possession of stolen firearms from her home. The attack is being investigated as a hate crime after authorities found a lengthy manifesto praising previous mass shooters.

No children were killed, and school staff and students at the centre’s academy were safely evacuated, thanks largely to the heroic actions of Amin Abdullah, the centre’s security guard.

As a radicalization and terrorism scholar, I have been researching extremist movements and mass violence for nearly two decades and have catalogued and read through close to three dozen manifestos.

What’s unique about the wave of attackers since the 2019 Christchurch attack is how much they’re inspired by each other, how they try to emulate the examples of previous attackers and encourage future ones.

The manifesto written by the San Diego attackers is no different and is the clearest recent example of how “saint culture” — a phenomenon that positions previous attackers not as cautionary examples, or even merely ideological predecessors, but as sacred models whose work must be continued — has galvanized the militant far-right.

There are several things worth noting about their manifesto,........

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