President Trump & Terrorism in the USA:threat & response

[AdamG]

Double-tapping this for maximum exposure.

The BBC had a bit on one of their civilian programs last week, pushing the 'run/hide/report' immediate action drills.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/citizenaid-advice-supports-run-hide-tell

Excellent site, in general.
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/national-counter-terrorism-security-office

Considering the pre-Christmas FBI warning to churches, readers might want to forward that to house-of-worship security committees with an "abundance of caution", of course.

[AdamG]

Moderator's Note

A new thread for this topic and a small number of posts will be moved from the existing thread, which started in May 2007. It has 504 posts and 232k views. This post will then drop from being the first.

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Hackers infected 70 percent of storage devices that record data from D.C. police surveillance cameras eight days before President Trump’s inauguration, forcing major citywide reinstallation efforts, according to the police and the city’s technology office.
City officials said ransomware left police cameras unable to record between Jan. 12 and Jan. 15. The cyberattack affected 123 of 187 network video recorders in a closed-circuit TV system for public spaces across the city, the officials said late Friday.
Brian Ebert, a Secret Service official, said the safety of the public or protectees was never jeopardized.https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/hackers-hit-dc-police-closed-circuit-camera-network-city-officials-disclose/2017/01/27/d285a4a4-e4f5-11e6-ba11-63c4b4fb5a63_story.html

[AdamG]

Pay attention, people - a four-man team created 80 casualties.


More than 30 people have been killed after attackers dressed as doctors stormed the largest military hospital in Kabul, Afghan officials say.
Militants armed with guns and grenades gained entry after one detonated explosives at a hospital gate and then opened fire on staff and patients.
Commandos who landed on the Sardar Daud hospital roof killed all four attackers after several hours of fighting.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39202525

[davidbfpo]

Pay attention, people - a four-man team created 80 casualties.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39202525

Just clocked that the attackers claim they were ISIS as The Soufan Report reports:
The persistent insecurity throughout Afghanistan—even in locations deemed most secure—was highlighted yet again by a March 8 attack at the Sardar Daud Khan medical complex in Kabul. The attack, which was carried out by the increasingly deadly Islamic State (http://www.soufangroup.com/the-islamic-state/) affiliate in the country, killed at least 30 patients and medical staff in what is the premier military hospital in the Afghan capital.Link:http://www.soufangroup.com/tsg-intelbrief-the-unique-threat-of-the-islamic-state-in-afghanistan/

[davidbfpo]

Used by the BBC today, in an article on the new immigration vetting Executive Order, has a graph from New America; the sub-title says 'Includes those charged with or died engaging in jihadist terrorism'.

Scroll to end of report to view, it defeats my IT skills to reproduce here:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39215990

http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/blob:null/987effab-6e8e-4945-b7bc-272f7df0ec2f
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/blob:null/987effab-6e8e-4945-b7bc-272f7df0ec2f

[AdamG]

Washington (AFP) - Increasingly unable to mount centrally planned, big-impact attacks, the ill group now relies on "virtual entrepreneurs" who work independently from the jihadist leadership to cultivate smaller lone-wolf attacks, researchers say.
According to researchers at George Washington University's Program on Extremism, evidence now shows that many so-called lone-wolves are in reality encouraged and directed by IS operatives to undertake attacks for which the group can then claim credit.
"These are guys who take it on themselves to come up with innovative new ways to spread jihadist ideology and encourage attacks," said Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, who with Seamus Hughes authored the research.
What is new, he told AFP, is that these individuals, sometimes also described as "virtual coaches", appear to be developing attack plans without direction or oversight from IS leaders, using social media and encrypted messaging.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/many-lone-wolf-attacks-coached-afar-study-claims-220542349.html

[OUTLAW 09]

AND from the other side of the political/religious terrorist spectrum....

Glasnost Gone @GlasnostGone
Coming Soon: Reports on how Russia helps its #UK & #US mercenaries illegally enter #Ukraine & how crowd funding helps them keep fighting.

A topic we hear virtually nothing on inside the US....there have been a number of US right wingers fighting in the Donbas and yet they travel back and forth to the US with ease and no interference by CBP or FBI....why is that?

[davidbfpo]

AND from the other side of the political/religious terrorist spectrum....

Glasnost Gone @GlasnostGone
Coming Soon: Reports on how Russia helps its #UK & #US mercenaries illegally enter #Ukraine & how crowd funding helps them keep fighting.

A topic we hear virtually nothing on inside the US....there have been a number of US right wingers fighting in the Donbas and yet they travel back and forth to the US with ease and no interference by CBP or FBI....why is that?

Outlaw 09,

The adoption of a "Nelson's Eye" approach to citizens or residents fighting abroad for a cause is a regular feature of international affairs. Some maybe described as mercenaries, others as freedom fighters or foreign fighters. Sometimes they fight in internationally recognized national armies or are dual-state nationals; this particularly in recent years affects the IDF. When the revolt against Gadafy gained some success a good number of UK citizens of Libyan heritage or refugees made their way to Libya to fight (it is incidentally unclear if they came back later) and I cannot recall a single incident where they were stopped, let alone prosecuted - unlike those who went to Syria.

[SWJ Blog]

Homeland and Security at the Local Level: A Public Policy Conference (http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/homeland-and-security-at-the-local-level-a-public-policy-conference)

This Journal article maybe of interest and value, in particular the link to a new publication on the San Bernardino incident; which they refer to as:
"We Remember: San Bernardino, December 2, 2015” was produced. This publication focuses on the events surrounding the San Bernardino mass shooting and the law enforcement and emergency medical response as well as providing context related to past terrorism attacks taking place in California and a history of state legislative responses to terrorism.Link:http://www.inlandempirecenter.org/inland-empire-outlook/

[davidbfpo]

I have not seen a profile of a US Attorney responsible for CT cases in NYC, so this New Yorker profile is interesting; even more so since she is an American-Pakistani woman. Plus there is a UK dimension.

This sums her up:
She has prosecuted thirteen people for terrorism since 2009, and has not lost a case.Link:http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/15/taking-down-terrorists-in-court

[davidbfpo]

An odd report via Twitter, from an untested source that relies on a local Miami paper and it starts with:
According to the Miami Herald (http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article151953257.html), Brandon Russell, Arthurs’ roommate, was in possession of multiple materials meant to build explosives, including a lethal bomb-making chemical named hexamethane triperoxide diamine. FBI and Tampa Police Department officers found the materials in Russell’s garage.
While in his bedroom, devices used by police bomb technicians alerted to the presence of radiation sources — thorium and americium. Link:http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/fbi-busts-atomwaffen-neo-nazi-in-florida-for-making-explosives-and-finds-radioactive-materials/

The local paper's report:http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article151953257.html

Leaving aside that Russell was serving in the National Guard; he lived with an extremist who was building IEDs possibly with radioactive components.

[AdamG]

An odd report via Twitter, from an untested source that relies on a local Miami paper and it starts with:Link:http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/fbi-busts-atomwaffen-neo-nazi-in-florida-for-making-explosives-and-finds-radioactive-materials/

The local paper's report:http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article151953257.html

Leaving aside that Russell was serving in the National Guard; he lived with an extremist who was building IEDs possibly with radioactive components.

You left out a key piece of the story, Dave. From the Miami Herald link above:


Officers placed him in handcuffs, and as they walked him to a patrol car, he made several references to “Allah Mohammed,” and said, “I had to do it. This wouldn’t have to happen if your country didn’t bomb my country.”
Arthurs explained that he shared the same neo-Nazi beliefs as Himmelman and Oneschuk until his recent conversion to Islam. His friends often made disparaging comments about the religion, he said, to which he began to take great offense.
“Since then, Arthurs states, he has become angered by the world’s anti-Muslim sentiment and had wanted to bring attention to his cause,” according to the arrest report.



‘But they aren’t hurt, they’re dead’
Arthurs told police he killed his two friends — identified by police as Jeremy Himmelman and Andrew Oneschuk — because they disrespected his new-found Muslim faith. Police found the bodies Friday hours after Arthurs barged into a nearby smoke shop and pulled a handgun on an employee and several customers.

Note that RAW STORY massaged this event to exclude all mention of the "Derka Derka Mohammed Jihad" aspect.

Now, however will the SPLA classified this? Islamic terrorism or Right-Wing terrorism? Place your bets now, kids.

[AdamG]

One week after the FBI raided a Dearborn home in the middle of the night, a new terrorism case surfaced in New York on Thursday involving two men: a Dearborn man who allegedly received bomb-making#training from a terror group and another man who allegedly plotted attacks on New York.
Samer el Debek, 37, of Dearborn and Ali Kourani, 32, of the Bronx#were arrested a week ago and charged with training and working on behalf of Hizballah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization based in Lebanon.#


http://www.freep.com/story/news/2017/06/08/feds-dearborn-man-trained-bomb-maker-terror-group/382329001/

[davidbfpo]

Citing Adam G:
One week after the FBI raided a Dearborn home in the middle of the night, a new terrorism case surfaced in New York on Thursday involving two men....were arrested a week ago and charged with training and working on behalf of Hizballah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization based in Lebanon.

Is this the first case for violent action, as distinct from fund raising etc for actions elsewhere, 'on behalf' of Hezbollah? Just curious; if it is surely this would be very significant?

[Azor]

Citing Adam G:

Is this the first case for violent action, as distinct from fund raising etc for actions elsewhere, 'on behalf' of Hezbollah? Just curious; if it is surely this would be very significant?

Yet from 2014 to the end of 2016, the U.S. ignored Hezbollah in Syria, and partnered with its affiliates in Iraq.

[Azor]

Citing Adam G:

Is this the first case for violent action, as distinct from fund raising etc for actions elsewhere, 'on behalf' of Hezbollah? Just curious; if it is surely this would be very significant?

See here (October 2016) from Brookings: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/markaz/2016/10/18/is-hezbollah-less-dangerous-to-the-united-states/

See here (March 2012) from the former House Homeland Security Chairman: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/hundreds-soldiers-hezbollah-inside-us-says-homeland-security-chairman
(http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/hundreds-soldiers-hezbollah-inside-us-says-homeland-security-chairman)

[davidbfpo]

As the UK security agencies wrestle with post-attack assessments of where they went wrong with known suspects rated as not posing a threat a reminder that the FBI has ye to explain what it did over Mateen, the loner responsible for the Orlando night club massacre, on June 12th 2016.

Citing a former FBI agent:
Did law enforcement do a great job and were they heroes, or were they bumbling, inept dopes? Almost impossible to make the call unless you see the record. Who knew what, and what did they know? The next step is more difficult. What could we do differently? Well, because of the lack of transparency, we don’t know what we did wrong.

The penultimate passage:
Whatever flaws in the FBI assessment process that allowed Mateen not to be designated a threat last year, they likely still exist today.
Link:https://theintercept.com/2017/06/12/one-year-after-pulse-shooting-in-orlando-fbi-hasnt-publicly-addressed-its-counterterrorism-failures/

[davidbfpo]

This article popped up yesterday via Twitter IIRC and comes from an advocacy group on gun control - which I've not seen before - and is useful as it provides some options to prevent violence.

The title is:Anger Is the Shared Fuel of Mass Shooters and Everyday Murderers. Here’s What Might Stop Both; The post-Orlando debate is overlooking policies and programs that can prevent rage from boiling over into gun violence.
Link:https://www.thetrace.org/2016/06/angry-mass-shooter-profile-gun-violence-prevention/
It is also appropriate after yesterday's shooting @ Alexandria, where the suspect appears to be an angry loner.

[davidbfpo]

A new thread for this topic and a small number of posts will be moved from the existing thread, which started in May 2007. It has 504 posts and 232k views. This post will then drop from being the first.

The previous thread will be closed and is:Terrorism in the USA:threat & response (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/Terrorism in the USA:threat & response)

[AdamG]

An ISIS-inspired terror plot targeting Times Square and the city’s subways — aimed at killing “thousands’’ and making “an ocean out of their blood’’ — has been foiled, authorities said Friday.
A trio of twisted wannabe terrorists, including a US citizen, were planning to strike the city over the summer of 2016, during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan, officials said.

http://nypost.com/2017/10/06/three-men-charged-for-isis-inspired-plot-to-attack-nyc/

[AdamG]

Double-tapping this for maximum exposure.


The Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation warned in a report distributed by email late on Friday that the nuclear, energy, aviation, water and critical manufacturing industries have been targeted along with government entities in attacks dating back to at least May.
The agencies warned that hackers had succeeded in compromising some targeted networks, but did not identify specific victims or describe any cases of sabotage. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-energy/u-s-warns-public-about-attacks-on-energy-industrial-firms-idUSKBN1CQ0IN

[AdamG]

A Desert Hot Springs man has been arrested for allegedly plotting to kill police officers and civilians, police announced Saturday.
The Desert Hot Springs Police Department learned of the plot Friday, Nov. 3, after getting a tip from an acquaintance of the suspect, the department said. Oscar Rene Parra Rincon, 39, was "actively and imminently planning to hunt and ambush police officers," the department said.
Rincon had illegally obtained ammunition to fulfill his plan, which included firing at civilians so that he could then shoot at responding officers, the DHSPD said.
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Man-Arrested-Plotting-Hunt-and-Ambush-Police-Officers-455190793.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_LABrand

[AdamG]

Reference the Manhattan Truck Attack -


According to federal court papers, he said:
The attack was a year in the planning and he carried out a trial run with a rental truck last month
He intentionally chose Halloween because he believed there would be more people in the streets
He originally planned to target the Brooklyn Bridge as well
He wanted to display Islamic State (IS) flags on the truck, but decided not to draw attention to himself
He was inspired by 90 graphic and violent propaganda videos found on his phone - in particular, one in which IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi asks what Muslims are doing to avenge deaths in Iraq.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41835266

[AdamG]

2013 Historical footnote on the Silicone Valley Network attacks,
link to the locked thread.
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=20044

I suspect we'll see this repeated, hence the position marker.

[AdamG]

Pictured curled up in failure: Brooklyn-based Bangladeshi cab driver, 27, in a suicide vest who caused rush-hour panic in Manhattan when his 'revenge' pipe bomb exploded too early

A pipe bomb went off in an underground tunnel linking the Times Square subway station and the Port Authority bus terminal Monday morning
Police have taken one man into custody, who was wearing the homemade explosive

The suspect has been identified as 27-year-old Bangladeshi national Akayed Ullah, who has been living in the U.S. for seven years
Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said the suspect 'supposedly was setting the device off in the name of ISIS' and that it was 'definitely a terrorist attack, definitely intended'
CNN reports that the bomb detonated prematurely and that if it had gone off as intended the damage could have been catastrophic
Ullah allegedly told investigators at the hospital that he carried out the attack because 'they've been bombing in my country'
He also revealed that he made the device at his job at an electrical company
The FDNY says three other people reported to local hospitals for minor injuries
The incident happened just days after President Trump sparked demonstrations across the world by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital city
One of the largest demonstrations took place in Muslim-majority Bangladesh


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5167317/Explosion-reported-NYC-Port-Authority-bus-terminal.html#ixzz50yd24eRV

[AdamG]

The way this is written, seems like the FBI was on-point.

This police officer is accused of being an ISIS-supporting neo-Nazi. He says he just has a dark sense of humor.


Young is the only U.S. police officer to ever face terrorism charges — a case brought after he was under FBI surveillance during six of the 13 years he patrolled the D.C. Metro system.
The 36-year-old Alexandria native is also a Muslim convert who used to dress up as a Nazi officer in reenactments, according to court documents, and kept a prayer list that included Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler. And he’s a Ron Paul supporter who used his vacation time to fight in a civil war on the other side of the world.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/this-police-officer-is-accused-of-being-an-isis-supporting-neo-nazi-he-says-he-just-has-a-dark-sense-of-humor/2017/11/28/10750026-ad13-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.197a6ed2ee0b

[AdamG]

I'll just leave this here.


Monday’s deadly Amtrak train derailment appears to have been caused by an object on the railway, according to a government official briefed on the crash.
A preliminary investigation suggests maintenance problems are unlikely to blame because the incident took place on brand-new tracks, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
At least six people were killed and the death toll is expected to rise, the official said.

https://nypost.com/2017/12/18/object-on-tracks-may-be-cause-of-deadly-amtrak-derailment/

Why, you ask?

From mid-August


CHICAGO (WLS) --
Now that vehicle-ramming attacks have become the most-favored tactic of terrorists worldwide, jihadists claim to have a new target: trains in the United States, including many that roll in and out of Chicago.

Following a detailed release from Al Qaeda urging rail attacks, the I-Team learned Monday that U.S. Transportation Safety Administration officials have sent an alert to mass transit, passenger and freight train operators concerning "steps that they can take to protect their systems from being targeted by violent extremists."

Al Qaeda's newly released online propaganda magazine "Inspire" features a cover story on train attacks and offers a how-to manual on derailing trains. The goal of derailing or blowing up a train is to create mass casualties and strike fear in commuters and the traveling public.
http://abc7chicago.com/tsa-cautions-train-systems-on-new-terror-claim/2307369/

....and November
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/terror-threat-us-rail-puts-law-enforcement-alert/story?id=51204458

[AdamG]

May 8th, 2017


Nine derailers, a piece of railroad equipment used to derail train cars for safety purposes in railyards have been stolen recently, sources said, citing the FBI's weekly intelligence bulletin.
The theft of these items is strange since they are of little use outside of the rail industry, according to the bulletin.
Railroads have been targeted in the past by terrorists, the bulletin said.
It specifically mentioned the Oct. 1995 derailment of an Amtrak train in Hyder, Ariz. In that incident, one person was killed and 78 were injured when parts of the track were sabotaged. The FBI located a derail 50 miles from Hyder.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90646&page=1

[davidbfpo]

Citing AdamG in part:
Monday’s deadly Amtrak train derailment appears to have been caused by an object on the railway, according to a government official briefed on the crash.
A preliminary investigation suggests maintenance problems are unlikely to blame because the incident took place on brand-new tracks, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
At least six people were killed and the death toll is expected to rise, the official said.

Or it was speeding at 81 mph onto a curve with a 30mph limit. Luckily on the inaugural journey very few passengers were aboard.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42408624

[AdamG]

Citing AdamG in part:

Or it was speeding at 81 mph onto a curve with a 30mph limit. Luckily on the inaugural journey very few passengers were aboard.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42408624

Figured you'd be along with that.

It behooves everyone to point out the Most Dangerous threat, if only for future Situational Awareness. “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

See also

The anarchist group "It's Going Down" last April bragged online about sabotaging railroad tracks in the Pacific Northwest to block fracking equipment from getting to its destination. The group has since deleted the post, possibly in reaction to today's Amtrak disaster.
https://pjmedia.com/trending/anarchists-bragged-april-sabotaging-railroad-tracks-block-fracking/

[AdamG]

Sounds like this guy was bounced from the Corps not long after he started.


A Northern California man was arrested this week and accused of planning an ISIS-inspired Christmas Day suicide attack on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.
In an 11-page affidavit filed in federal court in Fresno Friday, FBI special agent Christopher McKinney alleged that Jameson espoused "radical jihadi beliefs" on social media. According to the agent, Jameson "liked" and "loved" ISIS-related social media posts, including one that threatened a Christmas attack in New York City.
Jameson also allegedly expressed support for Sayfullo Saipov, an Uzbek immigrant who drove a rented truck down a Lower Manhattan bike path on Halloween, killing eight people and injuring 11 others.
"I'm glad to know we Muslims are finally hitting back," Jameson wrote to an FBI informant he was communicating with. "The Kuffar deserve everything and more for the lives they have taken," he added, using an Arabic term meaning "non-believer."
Earlier this month, McKinney said an undercover FBI agent began communicating with Jameson and questioned how he might be able to help ISIS. Jameson allegedly responded, "I was a soldier in the Kuffar army before I reverted. I have been trained in combat and things of war. [God willing,] anything of that nature."

McKinney said Jameson attended Marine basic training "in or about" June 2009 and trained as a sharpshooter, but was later discharged for failing to disclose a history of asthma.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/12/22/marine-vet-accused-plotting-christmas-terror-attack-san-francisco.html

Tow truck driver.
http://abc7news.com/fbi-man-planned-christmas-terror-attack-for-sfs-pier-39/2812473/

[AdamG]

Update at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 23: Police have identified the suspect as 51-year-old Ahmed Aminamin El-Mofty. They say El-Mofty shot at a Capitol Police officer at 3rd and Walnut streets.
Police said he then shot at a Pennsylvania State Trooper at Fifth and Strawberry streets. The Pennsylvania State trooper was slightly wounded.
El-Mofty also fired shots with two handguns at officers at 17th and Mulberry Streets. Officers returned fire and killed him.
Police are looking for any information about El-Mofty. They said he spent time in both Dauphin and Cumberland counties and was recently in the Middle East.

http://www.ldnews.com/story/news/2017/12/22/shots-fired-around-capitol-complex-harrisburg/978182001/

[AdamG]

The following is an infographic showing the arrests and convictions for terror charges in the U.S. in December 2017.

https://clarionproject.org/terror-attacks-convictions-just-december-2017/

[AdamG]

Two IEDs detonate at Eagle Ridge Mall in Florida, no one injured


Police described the devices as flare-like objects in PVC pipe, wrapped in electrical tape.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/two-ieds-detonate-at-eagle-ridge-mall-in-florida-no-one-injured/ar-AAv06cK?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

[AdamG]

Frustrated MS-13 gang leaders feeling the pressure from the Trump administration’s crackdown are looking to send “younger, more violent offenders” to the United States to take over the role of being enforcers, officials say.

The revelations were made Thursday during a House Committee on Homeland Security meeting on fighting international criminal organizations, where officials discussed the arrests and imprisonment of MS-13 members and leadership over the last year.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ms-13-wants-to-send-younger-more-violent-offenders-to-the-us-officials-say/ar-AAv1HTn

[AdamG]

An estimated 300 Americans attempted to join the Islamic State and other radical Islamist groups in Iraq and Syria, including a small number who rose to senior positions, according to the most detailed report to date on this issue.
So far, 12 of those Americans have returned home, yet none has carried out an attack on U.S. soil,* according the report released Monday by George Washington University's Program on Extremism.

Caveat: OSINT can have limitations.
https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/p/8/005/078/1d3/097d6b2.jpg


The George Washington University team scoured online material, reviewed court records, spoke with government officials and interviewed some of those who returned to the U.S. after joining ISIS.


Around 50 Americans were arrested as they tried to leave the country, and never made it out of the U.S. The report was able to document 64 individuals who did reach Syria or Iraq.

*
Of the 12 Americans who returned, nine were arrested and remain in custody, the report said. Two others are known to law enforcement, but have not been detained, it added. The 12th man went back to Syria a second time and carried out a suicide bombing, the report said.

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/02/05/583407221/americans-in-isis-some-300-tried-to-join-12-have-returned-to-u-s

[AdamG]

A former teacher at a Harlem charter school stockpiled bomb-making materials and paid students to break down fireworks to extract gunpowder for the explosives, authorities say.
Christian Toro and his brother, Tyler Toro, were arrested by the FBI Thursday morning after authorities found a bomb-making manual on the teacher's school-issued laptop, 30 pounds of chemicals and household materials used to create explosives in their apartment, a diary that referenced "operation flash" and a handwritten note in a bookbag that said "under the full moon the small ones will know terror."https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Mayor-de-Blasio-NYPD-FBI-Significant-Investigation-New-York-City-474227893.html

[AdamG]

Been watching this for two weeks, has now gotten stupid enough to warrant a posting.

Caveat: might be bomber(s) plural. Posting & followups will probably include Red Herrings, for those playing CLUE at home.


A man was killed after "some type of device" exploded on the front porch of his home in Texas on Friday, officials said.
The Austin Police Department said the victim, a man in his 40s, was found on the front porch of his home, after the explosion was reported around 7 a.m. in the city's northeast Harris Ridge neighborhood.


The incident appeared similar to one in New York in 2017, when a package explosion that was meant for a cop instead killed landlord George Wray. Federal prosecutors charged Victor Kingsley, 37, with using a weapon of mass destruction as part of a plot to get revenge against cops who arrested him in January 2014, the United States Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday. No officers lived at the home, but the landlord picked up the package that had been sitting on the porch for about a week when it exploded, police said.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/04/texas-man-killed-after-device-explodes-on-front-porch-austin-home.html

March 18

The latest bombing in the Texas capital was detonated by a tripwire along a residential street, police say.
The Sunday night blast was the fourth explosion in less than a month to terrify the nearly 1 million residents of Austin.




But the chief did say "these are very powerful devices" and "there's a certain level of skill required to move a device like this."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/13/us/austin-bombs-what-we-know-dont-know/index.html

Today -


A package bomb that authorities believe is linked to the recent string of Austin bombings exploded early Tuesday inside of a FedEx distribution center near San Antonio, leaving one worker with minor injuries.

Hours later, Austin police responded to a report of a suspicous package at a FedEx facility in Austin near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The explosion in Schertz happened at about 1 a.m. at a FedEx facility, which is just northeast of San Antonio, FBI Special Agent Michelle Lee said. One worker was treated for minor injuries and released, according to statements issued by the Schertz Police Department and FedEx.
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Explosion-Injures-Worker-at-FedEx-Facility-in-Schertz-477358853.html

[AdamG]

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --
Officials said a 51-year-old former Bay Area resident who drove a flaming minivan loaded with propane tanks and gasoline cans through the main gate at Travis AFB has been identified.
*
A man who was killed in a fiery crash at Travis AFB's main gate has been identified as 51-year-old Hafiz Kazi.
*
During a press conference Friday, officials said the driver had no known links to terrorism.

FBI agent Sean Ragan said Hafiz Kazi was found dead inside the Kia minivan Wednesday evening shortly after rolling slowly through the main gate of Travis Air Force Base and crashing.

Ragan said five propane tanks, three one-gallon size gas cans and several lighters were found in the van along with three phones and a gym bag with "personal effects."
*
Ragan said Kazi lived throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and has lived in the United States since 1993. He said Kazi is a native of India who was a permanent legal resident of the United States.
http://abc7news.com/man-whose-vehicle-exploded-at-travis-afb-identified/3251954/




In a press conference in California, Sean Ragan, special agent in charge of the FBI's Sacramento Field Office, said officials are investigating the incident but have not made any determinations as to Kazi's motives or affiliations.

Ragan said Kazi appeared to be on fire as he approached the base in a Kia minivan. By the time emergency responders reached Kazi's car, Ragan said, he had already died. Ragan said it took some time to identify Kazi due to the condition of his body, but ultimately officials were able to ID him using fingerprints.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/03/23/motive-unclear-man-who-lit-himself-fire-rammed-base-gate.html

https://i.imgur.com/lpfalh3.jpg

[AdamG]

WASHINGTON — The FBI and military authorities said Monday that they were investigating a half-dozen suspicious packages containing explosive components, sent to military and intelligence addresses in the Washington area.

The first was discovered Monday morning at the National Defense University, at Fort McNair in southwest Washington. It was quickly rendered safe, the military said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/six-suspicious-packages-sent-military-intelligence-sites-officials-say-n860236

[davidbfpo]

Via Twitter and from the George Washington University Program on Extremism their latest monthly update on ISIS in the USA. Too big a jpg to display.
Link:https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/March%202018%20Update.pdf

[AdamG]

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — The son of a Boston police captain pleaded guilty Monday to plotting to use guns and homemade bombs to attack a college campus to support the Islamic State group, three years after his arrest after his father alerted the FBI.

Alexander Ciccolo's guilty plea comes a month before he was scheduled to go to trial. He faces 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in September.

Ciccolo was arrested in July 2015 after he received four guns he ordered from a person who was cooperating with the FBI. Boston police Capt. Robert Ciccolo tipped off authorities after his son said he wanted to join the Islamic State group.

Federal authorities said Ciccolo's case is a reminder that 'homegrown' radicalization remains a threat and that citizens must speak up when they become aware of a potential threat.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cops-son-charged-terror-case-expected-plead-guilty-023048060.html

[AdamG]

From June 23rd -


NEW YORK (AP) — The man charged with murdering eight people on a New York City bike path and injuring many more spoke out in court Friday over a prosecutor’s objection, invoking “Allah” and defending the Islamic State.

Sayfullo Saipov, 30, raised his hand to speak immediately after U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick set an Oct. 7, 2019 date for the Uzbek immigrant’s trial.

Earlier, he had pleaded not guilty through his lawyer to the latest indictment in the Oct. 31 truck attack near the World Trade Center. A prosecutor said the Justice Department will decide by the end of the summer whether to seek the death penalty against Saipov, who lived in Paterson, New Jersey, before the attack.


Speaking through an interpreter for about 10 minutes, Saipov said the decisions of a U.S. court were unimportant to him. He said he cared about “Allah” and the holy war being waged by the Islamic State.

At the prompting of Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Houle, Broderick interrupted Saipov to read him his rights, including that anything he said in court could be used against him.

“I understand you, but I’ m not worried about that at all,” Saipov said.

“So the Islamic State is not fighting for land, like some say, or like some say, for oil. They have one purpose, and they’re fighting to impose Sharia (Islamic law) on earth,” he said.

https://apnews.com/8001394ef2824dfaa99780a84ec42e12

[AdamG]

Siraj Wahhaj is the son of the Brooklyn imam of the same name, 68, who heads the Masjid At-Taqwa in Bedford-Stuyvesant, several congregants at the mosque confirmed to The Post.

Hujrah and Subhanah are the elder Wahhaj’s daughters. Morton is married to Sabhanah, and Leveille is the younger Wahhaj’s wife, according to public records and statements by the imam…

Prosecutors named the elder Siraj Wahhaj — born Jeffrey Kearse — as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He also was a character witness in the trial of convicted terror plotter Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman.
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/08/08/siraj-ibn-wahhaj-training-kids-carry-school-shootings/



New Mexico prosecutors alleged that Siraj Ibn Wahhaj was conducting weapons training with assault rifles at the compound, not far from the Colorado border. They requested he be held without bail.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-news-children-mexico-compound-trained-school-shooting-20180808-story.html

[AdamG]

The children discovered at an “extremist Muslim” compound in New Mexico earlier this month were both trained to use firearms and taught multiple tactical techniques in order to kill teachers, law enforcement and other institutions they found corrupt, state prosecutors revealed on Monday.

The prosecutors provided more details about the accusations during a court hearing in which they asked that Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and four other defendants be held pending trial on child abuse charges.


Wahhaj and the others were seated with their public defenders in a Taos courtroom Monday as prosecutors presented books that were found at the compound, documents related to Wahhaj's trip to Saudi Arabia and a handwritten notebook that appeared to be some kind of teaching manual. They also pointed to evidence that Wahhaj had taken a series of firearms courses while in Georgia.

Defense attorneys, meantime, argued that prosecutors were trying unjustly to paint their clients as armed militants. Public defenders also argued that the rifles and handguns found on the property were common guns that could be bought at retail stores and that their clients made no aggressive efforts to defend their compound.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/08/13/horrifying-details-released-in-investigation-extremist-muslim-compound-that-allegedly-conducted-school-shooting-training.html

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/08/13/horrifying-details-released-in-investigation-extremist-muslim-compound-that-allegedly-conducted-school-shooting-training.html

[AdamG]

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Officials closed Arlington National Cemetery to the public Wednesday after a bomb threat was reported. All families, visitors, and employees have been evacuated safely from the area, according to the Arlington National Cemetery. The cemetery is closed to the public for the duration of the day, officials said. It is, however, open for funeral services, funeral attendees and family pass holders. The threat is being investigated.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/arlington-national-cemetery-closes-after-bomb-threat/ar-BBMhVbD?ocid=spartandhp

[AdamG]

MS-13 Narco Terrorist cell mopped up.


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — More than two dozen MS-13 gang members and affiliates were arrested and charged following a monthslong murder and drug trafficking investigation centered on a rural California farm city that the gang turned into a base for its operations, U.S. and state prosecutors said Friday. MS-13 took advantage of limited resources in the city of Mendota and used it and other areas of Fresno County to "conduct their crimes, to hide out from crimes that they committed in other jurisdictions and to prepare to commit crimes in states as far away as New York," Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp said at a news conference in Fresno with state and federal officials.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-attorney-ms-13-gang-terrorized-california-farm-180611361.html

[AdamG]

FEMA and the FCC are testing wireless emergency alerts.
Your phone will likely sound an alarm with a 'Presidential Alert' sometime around 2:18 p.m. ET.
It isn't coming from President Donald Trump, but in the future it might if there's a national emergency.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/03/presidential-alert-tests-from-fema-and-fcc-begin-wednesday-afternoon.html

[AdamG]

A Minnesota judge on Thursday sentenced a former FBI agent to four years behind bars after the man reportedly confessed to giving classified defense documents to a reporter.

U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright told Terry James Albury, 39, who pleaded guilty earlier this year, that he “knowingly” committed the crime despite its illegality, according to The Associated Press.


“You did so willingly. You knew that what you did was a criminal act, and you knew that you were putting the nation's security at risk,” the judge told Albury.

The 4-year prison term matches the seriousness of the crime, Wright said, and should serve as a deterrent to others.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ex-fbi-agent-sentenced-for-leaking-classified-documents-to-reporter

That article fails to articulate what he did -


Because of his work with the FBI, Albury held a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance that allowed him access to "sensitive and classified FBI and other U.S. government information" according to a 2018 FBI release.

Court documents from Albury's guilty plea say Albury disclosed national defense information to an Intercept reporter. The documents included information that related to how the FBI assesses confidential informants, and a document "relating to threats posed by certain individuals from a particular Middle Eastern country."

https://kstp.com/news/kstp-terry-albury-fbi-minnesota-sentenced/5113351/

[davidbfpo]

Readers may recall the political fallout from a NYT story on the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017, with Anglo-US law enforcement exchanging of information being turned off by the UK.
Link to NYT story, which now be behind a pay wall:https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/24/world/europe/manchester-arena-bomb-materials-photos.html?

Last week a US DoJ IG report found four employees mishandled sensitive information and two forwarded the email to their own personal email accounts. It gets worse, so read the linked story. The amazing fact the IG reported was that:
found misconduct by four of the more than 1,000 bureau employees who received an email containing the intelligence. (At the end) The inquiry found that British authorities had sent the report to “numerous other” US agencies, suggesting the leak may not have come from the FBI.
Link:https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/10/four-fbi-employees-mishandled-british-evidence-after-manchester-bombing-report-finds

It is well known that the Anglo-US CT LE relationship is very close, but one does wonder if the "need to know" principle is being applied.

[AdamG]

With a long history of the terror group encouraging wildland arson, al-Qaeda supporters circulated a new poster through media channels highlighting "California burning."

"They will question you about the mountains. Say: 'My Lord will scatter them as ashes,'" says the text citing the Quran, imposed over news photos from the blazes.

The al-Qaeda propaganda comes shortly after one of the many media groups supporting ISIS operations online claimed that the deadly wildfires in northern and southern California are retribution for coalition bombings in Syria.

The image circulated online by Al-Ansar Media uses a photo of a burning building and misspelled the state "kalifornia."
https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/having-long-promoted-arson-tactic-al-qaeda-now-touts-california-burning/?fbclid=IwAR2ciHGFb0xH_cC_qRI_w0HVG66i9wCGFc-WlvvIvqs-X3dUjL8_y0fiPsA

[AdamG]

A young New York woman pleaded guilty Monday to supporting the Islamic terror group ISIS with a scam involving bank fraud, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Zoobia Shahnaz, 27, of Brentwood, Long Island, admitted to wiring more than $150,000 to individuals and shell entities that were fronts for ISIS in Pakistan, China and Turkey in 2017.
Shahnaz engaged in a scheme to scam Chase Bank, TD Bank, American Express and Discover by fraudulently obtaining six credit cards, according to another court filing. She then bought more than $62,703 in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and converted the currencies to cash.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/26/new-york-woman-pleads-guilty-to-using-bitcoin-to-launder-money-for-isis.html

[AdamG]

There's a certain irony here, focusing on one of the most restrictive urban areas in Pax Americana.


An ISIS-supporting media group threatened New York City attacks for New Year's with suggested tactics including snipers and package bombs. The latest threat circulated online follows other message from jihadists that have specifically cited Jan. 1 in calling for attacks.
One poster distributed online in mid-November superimposed a masked jihadist wielding a bloody knife over a collage of images from the 2016 Berlin Christmas market attack. It stated that New Year's Day is "the date of retribution."

Shortly after that, an ISIS-backing media group released an image of a demolished cityscape with multiple fires, warning, "Soon, Allah willing, the disbelievers will see the very thing they feared: 1-1-2019."

https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/isis-groups-nyc-new-years-threat-harvest-them-with-silencers-and-snipers/

The Current Narrative would have everyone forget the immediate citizen reaction to Charles Whitman, the "Texas Tower Killer" of 1966.


As police began arriving in greater numbers, they were joined by private citizens (many alerted by the on-the-scene radio report of the incident as it occurred) who came armed with hunting rifles. The expanding fire from the ground forced Whitman to seek shelter behind the observation deck’s thick walls and limited his targeting ability by confining him to shooting through waterspouts.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Texas-Tower-shooting-of-1966


Regular people from all over Austin had grabbed their guns from their trucks or homes that day and rushed to campus to fire at Whitman from the ground. Their bullets pelted the tower, kicking up clouds of limestone. At times, witnesses said, the campus felt like a war zone, but with armed frat boys and hunting enthusiasts instead of soldiers.

It was in essence what gun rights activists would yearn for decades later whenever a new mass shooting shocked the nation — multiple “good guys with guns” trying to end the violence. That kind of thinking helped inspire state legislators to pass a law in 2015 allowing people to take guns into university buildings in Texas. The law goes into effect Aug. 1, exactly 50 years after Whitman’s rampage.
https://apps.texastribune.org/guns-on-campus/allen-crum-helped-stop-ut-tower-shooter-charles-whitman/

(Note that the facts above are missing from the Wiki summaries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_tower_shooting)

And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth.

[AdamG]

2013 Historical footnote on the Silicone Valley Network attacks,
link to the locked thread.
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=20044

I suspect we'll see this repeated, hence the position marker.

I'll just leave this here...

PG&E workers found damaged tower and bullet holes near Camp Fire origin site


A California utility company said its crews found a damaged transmission tower and holes in a power pole at separate locations near the site where the Camp Fire started.



PG&E said in its Tuesday letter that inspectors later discovered that a hook connecting part of the transmission line and the transmission tower was broken. They also found a flash mark on the tower.
The company also detailed a second outage at another location. That incident was reported a few miles away from the first outage and about 15 minutes after the wildfire started.
When crews went to check the outage a day later, the letter states, they "observed that the pole and other equipment was on the ground with bullets and bullet holes at the break point of the pole and on the equipment."
Meredith E. Allen, PG&E's senior director of regulatory relations, explained that details about the incidents are preliminary and they remain under investigation.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/13/us/pge-camp-fire-report-outages/index.html

And from PJ Media, as posted in this here thread -
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?27408-The-Coming-Asymmetry&p=212469&viewfull=1#post212469


With a long history of the terror group encouraging wildland arson, al-Qaeda supporters circulated a new poster through media channels highlighting "California burning."

"They will question you about the mountains. Say: 'My Lord will scatter them as ashes,'" says the text citing the Quran, imposed over news photos from the blazes.

The al-Qaeda propaganda comes shortly after one of the many media groups supporting ISIS operations online claimed that the deadly wildfires in northern and southern California are retribution for coalition bombings in Syria.

The image circulated online by Al-Ansar Media uses a photo of a burning building and misspelled the state "kalifornia."

[AdamG]

A wave of bomb threats were reported against businesses, schools, hospitals and other places across the country on Thursday, authorities said. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wave-bomb-threats-causes-evacuations-anxiety-nationwide-n947671


At this time it's unclear if the threats -- which have been received in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Miami, Washington, DC and other locations nationwide -- are connected. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they are aware of the threats and are working with law enforcement to provide assistance.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/13/us/email-bomb-threats/index.html

[AdamG]

Al-Qaeda is resurgent and seeking to carry out new terrorist atrocities against airliners and airports, the security minister Ben Wallace warned last night.

The terrorist group behind the 9/11 attacks in 2001 poses a growing threat that is keeping ministers “awake at night”, he told The Sunday Times.

Wallace said intelligence had revealed that al-Qaeda was developing technology to bring down passenger jets. Whitehall officials say that could include miniaturised bombs. Islamists have also plotted to use drones packed with explosives to blow up key targets.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/al-qaeda-terror-group-returns-to-target-airliners-mlj3lgf87

[AdamG]

Federal air marshals are being moved to the back of the plane -- some of them, at least. The undercover agents who are posted randomly to protect U.S. airliners are -- for the first time -- going to be assigned regularly to seats toward the back, sources briefed on the Transportation Security Administration’s plans told ABC News. Until now, the marshals were always assigned seats toward the front of the planes.

The new deployments are scheduled to go into effect Dec. 28.

Officials at the TSA, which controls the Federal Air Marshal Service, declined to discuss specifics, citing policies that require operational details to be kept secret.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-tsa-planning-major-shift-air-marshal-operations/story?id=59974300

Seems indiscreet to make this announcement, unless the TSA agents will really be hiding in the overhead compartments (like something Vizzini would cook up).
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/15_-cKwNWDA/hqdefault.jpg