Denying the reality of Islamic jihad is approaching metastatic levels among progressives. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is the latest example. Speaking at a conference the day after Police Officer Jesse Hartnett was shot several times at point blank range by Abdul Shaheed (a.k.a.) Edward Archer — who repeatedly professed his allegiance to the Islamic State when he confessed to the crime — Kenney insisted Shaheed’s assassination attempt had “nothing to do with being a Muslim.”

Unfortunately, Kenney was just warming up. “In no way shape or form does anyone in this room believe that Islam or the teaching of Islam has anything to do with what you’ve seen on the screen.” That “screen” showed the video of Shaheed rushing towards Hartnett’s car while firing a gun. It was a 9mm Glock 17 reported stolen in 2013 — from the home of a police officer.

At one point, the gun is inside the car, only inches from Harnett, who miraculously survived being shot at as many as 13 times. Three bullets hit his left arm, shattering his elbow, piercing the arm’s major artery and tearing through nerves. Despite his wounds, Harnett emerged from his vehicle, chased Shaheed and shot him in the buttocks. Other officers captured him about a block from the crime scene.

At the same conference, Philadelphia police commissioner Richard Ross revealed that Shaheed gave a full confession. “He was trying to assassinate this police officer,” Ross stated. Homicide unit commander Capt. James Clark explained that Shaheed was quite specific about his motivation for the crime. “I follow Allah. I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic State and that’s why I did what I did,” Shaheed said, according to Clark. Ross added another piece to the puzzle, saying Shaheed “believed that the police defend laws that are contrary to the teachings of the Koran.”

Regardless, the Mayor remained adamant. “It is abhorrent. It is terrible and it does not represent the religion or any of its teachings. This is a criminal with a stolen gun who tried to kill one of our officers. It has nothing to do with being a Muslim or following the Islamic faith.”

Really? Shaheed’s mother, Valerie Holliday, insisted her son is a devout Muslim who has practiced the faith for some time. According to Doug Dolfman, a lawyer who briefly represented Shaheed in 2013, the confessed shooter said he had traveled to Saudi Arabia for a couple of weeks in October and November of 2011, and spent months in Egypt a year later. Dolfman and also noted that Shaheed spoke about his Muslim faith. Philly.com filled in the travel details, noting Shaheed made a pilgrimage to Mecca (a once in a lifetime requirement for a devout Muslim) during his first trip, and that his reasons for spending 10 months in Egypt remain “unclear to authorities.”

Need more convincing? A woman approached another police officer last Saturday night, warning that other members of the force were in danger because three of Shaheed’s “radical” associates were still at large. Police spokesman Lt. John Stanford said the tipster “alleged the defendant had an affiliation to a group with radical beliefs.” Other police sources said the tipster noted the men “still frequent the 6100 block of Pine.” She also insisted that Shaheed had attended the Masjid Mujahideen mosque on 60th Street near Pine, and that an imam there was lying when he said Shaheed was not associated with the mosque.

Mosque imam Asim Abdur Rashid admitted Shaheed was “a frequent member of the masjid,” adding “I did not know him as Archer, and I did not recognize his picture. I know him as Abdul Shaheed.” He explained, “We don’t call each other by the names we had before we converted to Islam.”

The tipster said Shaheed also attended a mosque at 45th and Walnut Streets, where he “became more radical.” Masjid Al Jamia on the 4400 block of Walnut Street is the closest mosque to that address, and a couple of followers praying inside last Sunday explained their mosque is the North American headquarters for the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects (AICP) which “is not a terrorist organization at all and the teachings here refute that ideology,” one stated. “ISIS kills our people.” The other follower suggested Shaheed could be mentally ill, something his mother suggested, but Shaheed’s brother denied.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization that remains credible in progressive eyes — despite being an unindicted co-conspirator in the Texas Holy Land Foundation case that yielded several convictions for terrorist financing — also tried to distance Shaheed from Islam. “At this hour, it does not appear that he was an observant or mosque-going Muslim” in the local community, said Jacob Bender, executive director of CAIR’s Philadelphia Chapter. “I’ve called numerous imams and mosques to try to see if the name rings a bell with anyone. So far it hasn’t.”

Political activist Pamela Gellar, who has dedicated her life to fighting Jihadistan, offers a sobering counter-argument. “Bender neglected to mention that the mosques behind jihadi terror attacks lie to cover their involvement,” she writes. “The Islamic Community Center mosque in Phoenix, Arizona lied about the Garland, Texas jihadis. The Dar al Uloom al Islamiyyah mosque lied about the San Bernardino jihadi. The Islamic Society of Boston mosque lied about the Boston Muslim bombers. The Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City mosque lied about jihadi who beheaded co-worker, Colleen Hufford.”

A politically wary White House attempted to straddle the fence, with Obama spokesman Josh Earnest stating that whether Shaheed’s effort was a terrorist act “is something we’re all wondering right now.”

As Gellar notes such “wondering” is extremely selective. “In what instance, other than Islam, is the declared motive of the criminal ever denied or questioned? If Archer had said he was an admirer of Hitler, would anyone dispute it? How about KKK? Would that have been challenged? Only Islam — that is sharia in America.”

Motive isn’t the only element of de facto sharia involved here. One might think the attempted assassination of a police officer by a self-professed follower of the Islamic State, happening so soon after the San Bernardino atrocity, would generate substantial light and heat from the mainstream media. Yet as NewsBusters reveals, coverage has been minimal at best, with Fox News contributor Megyn Kelly hammering her colleagues for being more interested in the Powerball jackpot and the Golden Globes. Kelly was further incensed with the aforementioned White House briefing, “where it took a full 20 minutes for any reporter to even bring up the attack in Philadelphia.”

They’re hardly alone. When the world learned about the New Year’s Eve sexual jihad that took place in many EU locations, they also got an inkling of how far EU progressive elites and their media allies were willing to go to tamp down the story. Germany has upped the ante, making deals with Facebook, Google and Twitter to censor German “hate speech” on social media related to migrants and refugees.

The elitist plan on both sides of the Atlantic is clear. Challenging the progressive narrative with regard to Islamic jihad will result in denial, charges of Islamophobia, and/or the outright censorship of hate speech — as defined by progressives. And there are only two ways to counter it: One is to vote such arrogant and feckless politicians out of office as soon as possible. The other is to absorb an attack so spectacular and deadly that elitists’ bankrupt rationale can no longer be sustained.

In his (blessedly) final State of the Union Speech, Obama insisted Islamic State fighters “do not threaten our national existence.” Neither did 9/11, Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon bombing or San Bernardino. Yet every day that ISIL remains viable is another day their siren song can inspire people like Archer/Shaheed— and another day progressives can deny the connection. Once again: What level of domestic death and destruction are progressives willing to abide to sustain their ideological fantasies?