“Nicholas Thalasinos and his wife are self-described ‘Messianic Jews’, but they do not seem to have actually been Jewish. That’s not unusual for ‘Messianic Jews’. Of course, the question is whether the jihadis thought he was a Jew.”
No he doesn’t self describe as a Messianic Jew . He stated on his Facebook page that he is not Jewish before they took it down . He self describes as a born again Christian and that is exactly what his wife said about him too. They happen to attend a Messianic Congregation
I’m sure you are correct, but no less than the NYT said otherwise:
http://www.nytimes.com/live/san-bernardino-shooting/victim-was-gunmans-co-worker/
...Ms. Thalasinos said she and her husband were devout Messianic Jews, members of a religious group that incorporates elements of Judaism and Christianity. She said Mr. Thalasinos had worn traditional Jewish tassels, called tzitzit, which draped braided tassels over his pants...