On Sunday, February 15th, the militant group ISIS released a new video. In the video, members of the militant group behead twenty – one members of the Coptic Christian faith. Coptic Christians are part of the Orthodox Christian tradition and trace their history to the Apostle Mark. All but one of the victims were Egyptian laborers who had found work in Libya and ISIS claims that the beheading took place on a beach in Libya.

The video lasts for five minutes and appears to be expertly produced. ISIS members ae dressed in all black with their faces covered and they stand behind the victims. The victims are dressed in orange jumpsuits and their hands are cuffed behind their backs.

A masked jihadi speaks to camera in English and says, “The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden’s body in, we swear to Allah, we will mix it with your blood.” His use of English is seen as possibly an even further threat directed at Western civilization. After his statement, all the victims are shoved to the ground and beheaded. The beheading in the video appears to have actually been the work of an affiliate of ISIS in Libya as ISIS itself controls areas in Iraq and Syria.

The President of Egypt, Abel Fattah el-Sisi, called for a meeting of the Council of National Defense in response to the video and Egypt launched an air strike against the ISIS affiliate in Libya that the Council believed to be responsible. El-Sisi also declared seven days of official mourning for the Egyptians who had fallen victim to the militant group.

Both the U.N. Security Council and the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke out to condemn what they consider a “despicable act of terror”. The White House also spoke out against the beheadings and declared that ISIS’ “barbarity knows no bounds”. However, there was much controversy over the White House’s statement regarding the video as the statement neglected to address the Christian faith of the victims.