Tag Archives: FBI

Boston Terror Gunman Plotted To Kill Police

FBI officials have confirmed that the terrorist shot and killed Tuesday by police and federal agents in Boston had been working on a plot to attack police.

Investigators said they moved on Usaamah Abdullah Rahim after intercepting a phone call talking about beheading police officers.  When they approached Rahim, he pulled out a military style knife and threatened the police. He was shot after refusing their demands to drop the weapon and withdraw.

Rahim was described as a 26-year-old security guard who had been “radicalized by ISIS.”  His original plan was to behead Pamela Geller, the woman who had hosted a “Draw Mohammed” contact in Texas that was the target of a failed terror attack.  He changed the plan to target police when he realized it would be too difficult to reach Geller.

“These cases are a reminder of the dangers posed by individuals radicalized through social media,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairma Michael McCaul said at a Wednesday hearing.

Rahim reportedly bought three military style knives from Amazon in late May.

McCaul also said there was evidence of Rahim’s social media communications with ISIS where “going on vacation” was discussed.  He explained that “going on vacation” was code for taking a violent jihad action.

Police have arrested two other men in connection with the plot.

FBI Found Using Mysterious Surveillance Aircraft

The FBI has been operating their own air force of low-flying surveillance planes hidden behind fake front companies.

According to a review by the Associated Press, the FBI flew over 30 cities in 11 states during the last 30 days.

The FBI claims the flights are done with the permission of a judge and are connected to specific investigative operations.  The planes carry video cameras and also the ability to intercept and record any cell phone call within the range of the plane.

The discovery by the AP forced the government to acknowledge the program publicly for the first time.  The most basic parts of the program have been classified from the public until now.  The AP traced 13 companies that turned out to be fake.  FVX Research, KQM Aviation, NBR Aviation and PXW Services were among the companies exposed as government fronts.

“The FBI’s aviation program is not secret,” spokesman Christopher Allen said in a statement to the AP. “Specific aircraft and their capabilities are protected for operational security purposes.” Allen added that the FBI’s planes “are not equipped, designed or used for bulk collection activities or mass surveillance.”

The FBI asked the AP to not reveal the names of the companies being used because it would “increase costs” to taxpayers when the FBI created new fake companies. The FBI would not confirm employees of the companies were actually employees of the federal government.

Senator Says U.S. Vulnerable To ISIS

The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said that the United States is “certainly vulnerable” to the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) said those who support ISIS see them as a “winning organization” so the U.S. has no other choice but to completely defeat the group.

“The best strategy the U.S. can employ to defeat this is actually defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria so that the reality is conveyed that this is not a winning organization, it is a losing organization,” Johnson said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Johnson cited the recent failed attack on a cartoon contest in Texas as an example of ISIS supporters seeing them as “winning” despite the attack failing in its goal.  Johnson said it’s also difficult because they can’t easily deal with those who are activity promoting ISIS.

“The problem is, what do you do with the not-guilty-yet? We do have laws, we have a Constitution, and it’s extremely difficult for law enforcement officials when you might have tens of thousands of sympathizers — how do you track them all?” Johnson asked.

Johnson said that up to 90,000 twitter accounts in the United States were promoting ISIS although Twitter has begun to delete them.

FBI Director James Comey said Thursday that the terrorists are trying to recruit “hundreds, maybe thousands” of potential terrorists in the U.S.  Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the U.S. is in “more serious circumstances today than we were after 9/11.”

“Remember, back then we thought about al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and a few other places? Well, we’ve seen al-Qaeda metastasize,” Ridge told CNN. “It is now a global scourge. And you have the ascendancy of ISIL. The combination of those two groups — their appeal to the lone wolfs and we see them acting in Belgium and in France and in Canada and the United States, so the threat factors and the nature of the threats are far more complicated and far more serious today than on Sept. 12, 2001.”

Threat Condition Raised At Military Bases

Security conditions at U.S. military bases were raised overnight because of potential threats of a jihadist attack.

The official move from U.S. Northern Command comes hours after FBI Director James Comey said there are thousands of ISIS followers in the United States.

“We have a general concern, obviously, that ISIL is focusing on the uniformed military and law enforcement,” Comey told reporters Thursday.  “It’s like the devil sitting on their shoulders, saying ‘kill, kill, kill.”

“We have the same concern about the potential threat posed by violent homegrown extremists,” said Captain Jeff Davis, spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command which oversees all U.S. military installations in the continental U.S.

CNN reported that an official confirmed “Force Protection Bravo” status, defined as an “increased and predictable threat of terrorism.”  The last time military bases in the homeland had this condition for any significant length of time was the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“We are doing this as a prudent measure due to a lot of things in the news lately,” Davis said. “While this change is not tied to a specific credible threat, recent events have led us to recognize the need to take prudent steps to ensure that our security measures can be increased quickly.”

FBI director Comey said the biggest problem is that these people “go dark” like Elton Simpson, one of the two terrorists who attempted the Texas Mohammed Cartoon contest attack.

“The haystack is the entire country,” Comey said. “We are looking for the needles, but increasingly the needles are unavailable to us. … This is the ‘going dark’ problem in living color. There are Elton Simpsons out there that I have not found and I cannot see.”

Two Islamists Dead After Attacking “Draw Muhammad” Contest

A man who had been investigated as a terrorist by the FBI and his roommate attempted to storm a “Draw Muhammad” contest near Dallas with automatic weapons but were gunned down by security before they were able to harm any civilians.

Elton Simpson had been the subject of a terrorism investigation and had been convicted five years ago of lying to federal agents about his plans to travel to Somalia.  A judge said that they couldn’t officially prove that he was attempting to join a terror group and given probation.

The gunmen had been living in Phoenix.

ISIS terrorists have been calling for an attack on the contest for more than a week.  An ISIS fighter posted on Twitter after the attack “two pro-ISIS individuals” had carried out the attack.

‘They Thought They Was Safe In Texas From The Soldiers of The Islamic State,’ added the tweet.

A security guard was hit by the terrorist’s shots but was treated and released from a local hospital.  Moments after the start of the assault, a Garland, Texas police officer shot both terrorists dead.

‘With what he was faced with and his reaction and his shooting with a pistol, he did a good job,’ Harn said of the officer.

‘He did what he was trained to do, and under the fire that he was put under, he did a very good job and probably saved lives. We think their strategy was to get into the events center and they were not able to get past that outer perimeter.’

Elton Simpson’s father released a statement saying that his son “made a bad choice.”

“We are Americans and we believe in America,” Dunston Simpson said. “What my son did reflects very badly on my family.”

California Airports Increased Security Over ISIS Threat

A number of California airports increased security measures over the weekend after intelligence officials intercepted messages about a possible terror plot against the United States.

The Department of Homeland Security did not release details of the threat other than saying they had intercepted chatter and other information that raised concerns.  They also confirmed the chatter was connected to ISIS.

“Over the last few months, we have made a number of security adjustments, including enhanced screening at select overseas airports and increasing random searches of passengers and carry-on luggage on flights inbound to the U.S., reflecting an evolving threat picture,” a spokesman with the department told CNN.

In addition to the airport security upgrades, DHS confirmed they had been increasing security at federal installations since February.

“The department has conducted significant outreach efforts … with state and local law enforcement partners regarding these trends and engaging in a series of meetings and events with local community leaders across the country to counter violent extremism,” the spokesman stated.

The TSA alerted local law enforcement that the airlines might not be the target but rather an individual actor focusing on uniformed personnel at various locations.

The increase in DHS actions and security comes after the head of the FBI admitted they have intelligence of people in all 50 states with sympathy toward the terrorist organization ISIS.

“Those people exist in every state” Comey said at a law enforcement event. “I have homegrown violent extremist investigations in every single state. Until a few weeks ago there was 49 states. Alaska had none, which I couldn’t quite figure out. But Alaska has now joined the group, so we have investigations of people in various stages of radicalizing in all 50 states.”

Kansas Man Accused Of Plotting Islamic Terror Attack On U.S. Base

A Kansas man is jailed on charges that he planned to detonate a car bomb at the Fort Riley military base for ISIS.

John T. Booker, Jr., who calls himself Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, had unknowingly been receiving false bomb material from FBI operatives according to NBC News.  Booker faces charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, one count of attempting to damage property and one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS.

“I want to assure the public there was never any breach of Fort Riley Military Base, nor was the safety or the security of the base or its personnel ever at risk,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric Jackson was quoted as saying in a statement.

“As alleged in the complaint, John Booker attempted to attack U.S. military personnel on U.S. soil purportedly in the name of (ISIS),” Fox News quoted Assistant Attorney General John Carlin as saying. “Thanks to the efforts of the law enforcement community, we were able to safely disrupt this threat to the brave men and women who serve our country. Protecting American lives by identifying and bringing to justice those who wish to harm U.S. citizens remains the National Security Division’s number one priority.”

A grand jury will consider the case next week.

Booker told an FBI informant that he wanted to kill Americans and engage in violent jihad on behalf of ISIS.  Imam Omar Hazim of the Islamic Center of Topeka told the FBI Booker had bipolar disorder according to the Associated Press.

Two New York Women Charged With Terrorism Plot

Two female roommates in Queens, New York are charged with plotting a terrorist attack on American soil.

Noelle Velentzas, 28 and Asia Siddiqui, 31, are both U.S. citizens.  The complaint against them was unsealed Thursday at Federal District Court in Brooklyn.

“The investigation has revealed that Velentzas espouses violent jihadist beliefs and has repeatedly expressed an interest in terrorist attacks committed within the United States,” the complaint stated.

A source told Fox News the women were plotting to use pressure cooker bombs similar to the ones used in the Boston Marathon bombings.  They were also in possession of propane tanks along with instructions on how to turn them into bombs.

Both of the women had “repeated contact with members of the foreign terrorist organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.”  One of the women said that Osama Bin Laden was her “hero”.

In communications with terrorists, Velentzas asked why they would need to come to the middle east when there were plenty of opportunities for “pleasing Allah” in the U.S.

The women face life in prison if convicted on all charges.

Detroit Man Stabs Two People For Not Being Muslim

A Detroit man has been arrested after he stabbed two people at a bus stop who told him they were not Muslims.

Terrance Thomas approached a bus stop near Detroit on Saturday where a group was making small talk.  Thomas then asked the people if they were Muslims.  Two of them group said they were not Muslim.

Thomas then pulled out a knife and stabbed one victim five times and the other victim once in the hand.

Thomas fled the scene but was caught by police just a few minutes after his assault.  He had two knives and a package of marijuana.

Thomas is jailed on one million dollars bond facing charges of two counts to assault with intent to murder, once count of carrying a dangerous weapon and possession of a controlled substance.

The FBI announced they are investigating the attack as a hate crime.

Virginia Man Named To Most Wanted Terrorist List

A former taxi driver from northern Virginia is now on the list of the world’s most wanted terrorists.

Liban Haji Mohamed, 29, was born in Somalia but became a naturalized citizen of the United States.  The FBI says that Liban is a recruiter for the al-Shabab terrorist network in Somalia.

Liban is the older brother of Gulet Mohamed, who has been fighting the government for four years over his placement on the no-fly list.  The family claims that Liban was harassed by the FBI after advocating for his younger brother and that he’s gone into hiding because he wanted to avoid harassment.

The charges against Liban Mohamed including providing material support to both Al Qaeda and al-Shabab.  The FBI says it’s likely he left the U.S. for Africa in July 2012 but prior to that had been a taxi driver in Fairfax County, Virginia.

“It is important for us to locate Mohamed because he has knowledge of the Washington, D.C., area’s infrastructure such as shopping areas, Metro, airports, and government buildings,” said Carl Ghattas, special agent in charge of the Counterterrorism Division at the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “This makes him an asset to his terrorist associates who might plot attacks on U.S. soil.”

The FBI also said that he was a “close associate” of Zachary Cheeser, a northern Virginia man who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for trying to join al-Shabab in 2011 along with make threats against the creators of the cartoon South Park for a perceived insult to prophet Muhammad.

Liban’s family claims the release from the FBI is nothing more than an attempt to influence the judge in the case Gulet Mohamed has filed.