FBI Thwart wing terrorists from attacking civilians

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cyberdad
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17 Jul 2021, 2:00 am

The FBI thwarted a plot by two men charged with plotting to bomb the Democrat Party Headquarters in Sacramento after being angered by the outcome of the presidential election. Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance tells Lawrence O'Donnell "we have a regrettable tendency to give the white supremacists a pass."

Among the possession they found were pipe bombs and a Trump "white privilege card", Trump inspiring a new generation of white supremacists


This follows 16 members of a Florida white supremacist gang were charged in a sweeping racketeering indictment who were also preparing to attack civilians.



Aspiegaming
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17 Jul 2021, 9:15 am

Sociopolitical genocide. I told you they were going to do it.


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20 Jul 2021, 5:28 pm

God bless the FBI for stopping these goons!


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funeralxempire
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20 Jul 2021, 6:17 pm

So, how long until there's another Oklahoma bombing? Terrorism from the militia movement and other right wingers is one '90s retro trend I can do without.


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The_Znof
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20 Jul 2021, 6:42 pm

the FBI is a joke, they used to gaslight MLK, telling him to kill himself.

Quote:
But all these dramas were facilitated by the F.B.I., whose undercover agents and informers posed as terrorists offering a dummy missile, fake C-4 explosives, a disarmed suicide vest and rudimentary training. Suspects naïvely played their parts until they were arrested.


https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opin ... e-fbi.html

not saying this is fake because the others were, but it does sound cheezy AF

what I find inserting is nobody would read my link if it wasnt approved by some cheezy webpage passed of as a fact checker, but more likely mock me for thinking I know more than said cheezy web page.

I wouldnt have bothered trying with anything but an approved source.



The_Znof
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20 Jul 2021, 6:53 pm

Kraichgauer wrote:
God bless the FBI for stopping these goons!


god save the FBI for not nailing Epstein but instead making propaganda with fake terrorists.



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20 Jul 2021, 8:40 pm

The_Znof wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
God bless the FBI for stopping these goons!


god save the FBI for not nailing Epstein but instead making propaganda with fake terrorists.


Fake terrorists? Are you saying right wing militia types aren't real terrorists? They stockpiled weapons and explosives to attack Democrats, and they had attacked the capitol with the intention of altering a democratic election's results, and had planned lynchings. That isn't terrorism?
As I recall, Epstein had in fact been caught, and had committed suicide in prison.
Incidentally, the FBI that had tried to make MLK commit suicide was the Hoover FBI, which was largely sympathetic to the far right at the time.


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cyberdad
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20 Jul 2021, 9:58 pm

The_Znof wrote:
the FBI is a joke, they used to gaslight MLK, telling him to kill himself.\


Different time right? J Edgar Hoover wasn't exactly a friend of the black people.



Brictoria
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20 Jul 2021, 11:24 pm

The_Znof wrote:
the FBI is a joke, they used to gaslight MLK, telling him to kill himself.

Quote:
But all these dramas were facilitated by the F.B.I., whose undercover agents and informers posed as terrorists offering a dummy missile, fake C-4 explosives, a disarmed suicide vest and rudimentary training. Suspects naïvely played their parts until they were arrested.


https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opin ... e-fbi.html

not saying this is fake because the others were, but it does sound cheezy AF

what I find inserting is nobody would read my link if it wasnt approved by some cheezy webpage passed of as a fact checker, but more likely mock me for thinking I know more than said cheezy web page.

I wouldnt have bothered trying with anything but an approved source.


You'd probably like the latest updates in their high profile case regarding a plot to kidnap a state governor:
Quote:
The government employed at least a dozen confidential informants to infiltrate groups of armed extremists who allegedly plotted to kidnap the governor of Michigan, according to a new filing in federal court on Monday.

The filing, made by one of the five defendants in the federal case, asked that prosecutors be ordered to share more information about those informants, their relationship with the FBI, and the specific roles they played in building the case.
<...>
Taken together, the new court papers offered a glimpse of the evolving defense strategies in the case, with several attorneys saying that they plan to argue that the FBI “induced or persuaded” the men to go along with the scheme.

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/fbi-allegedly-used-least-12-011301397.html

This is also complicated by:
Quote:
The arrest of an FBI agent credited with helping thwart a plot to kidnap and kill Gov. Gretchen Whitmer complicates one of the most closely watched cases of violent extremism that is becoming increasingly focused on allegations of wrongdoing by investigators.

FBI Special Agent Richard Trask, 39, of Kalamazoo, was charged Monday with assault with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder following a domestic incident with his wife Sunday. He was released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond following an arraignment in 8th District Court in Kalamazoo and faces a charge punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
<...>
The arrest is the second potential problem in the case to emerge in recent months.

In March, prosecutors indicted an informant who sources say helped the FBI infiltrate the alleged conspiracy, a rare legal development. The indictment of Wisconsin resident Stephen Robeson after a prolonged period of cooperation suggests the relationship between Robeson and the FBI is destroyed and that prosecutors do not plan on using him at trial, legal experts said.

But defense lawyers can try to call him as a witness and attack Robeson's credibility.
<...>
Defense lawyers have raised questions about the other lead investigator, FBI Special Agent Henrik Impola.

Impola came under defense scrutiny earlier this month after a lawyer for co-defendant Barry Croft suggested Impola was trying to sabotage defense teams.

Croft's lawyer Joshua Blanchard revealed the existence of a recording in which Impola discussed creating "disarray and chaos" for defense lawyers, whom he labeled "paid liars."

Source: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/07/19/fbi-agent-whitmer-kidnap-case-arrested-following-domestic-incident-richard-trask/8013618002/

An interesting legal question with regards to this case will be at what point does something go from being "investigated" through the use of informants, to being instigated by those investigators, given there ratio of informants to those arrested is 2:1



As a side note regarding sources: I'd suggest looking at the site "ground.news" as it allows you to find articles on news items as reported across the political spectrum, which can help avoid the hyperpartisans who insist certain sources from the other end of the political spectrum to themselves are "propoganda", "fake news", "biased", etc.. It's also quite useful in evaluating the information each side receives (or, equally importantly, is not provided), to get a better understanding of each side's perspective on various situations.



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21 Jul 2021, 1:52 am

^^^
Is that horses**t serious?!?!?! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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21 Jul 2021, 5:46 am

Kraichgauer wrote:
^^^
Is that horses**t serious?!?!?! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Well, it's certainly an interesting series of events when the evidence is looked at:
Quote:
The government has documented at least 12 confidential informants who assisted the sprawling investigation. The trove of evidence they helped gather provides an unprecedented view into American extremism, laying out in often stunning detail the ways that anti-government groups network with each other and, in some cases, discuss violent actions.

An examination of the case by BuzzFeed News also reveals that some of those informants, acting under the direction of the FBI, played a far larger role than has previously been reported. Working in secret, they did more than just passively observe and report on the actions of the suspects. Instead, they had a hand in nearly every aspect of the alleged plot, starting with its inception. The extent of their involvement raises questions as to whether there would have even been a conspiracy without them.

A longtime government informant from Wisconsin, for example, helped organize a series of meetings around the country where many of the alleged plotters first met one another and the earliest notions of a plan took root, some of those people say. The Wisconsin informant even paid for some hotel rooms and food as an incentive to get people to come.

The Iraq War vet, for his part, became so deeply enmeshed in a Michigan militant group that he rose to become its second-in-command, encouraging members to collaborate with other potential suspects and paying for their transportation to meetings. He prodded the alleged mastermind of the kidnapping plot to advance his plan, then baited the trap that led to the arrest.

This account is based on an analysis of court filings, transcripts, exhibits, audio recordings, and other documents, as well as interviews with more than two dozen people with direct knowledge of the case, including several who were present at meetings and training sessions where prosecutors say the plot was hatched. All but one of the 14 original defendants have pleaded not guilty, and they vigorously deny that they were involved in a conspiracy to kidnap anyone.

The prosecution gathered thousands of social media posts, some 400,000 text messages, and more than 1,300 hours of recordings — including audio or video from all three vehicles it alleges traveled to Birch Lake on the night of Sept. 12. It maintains that this evidence shows many of those who were charged not only expressed anti-government sentiments, but also took concrete steps toward the goal of kidnapping or killing law enforcement officers and elected officials.

But the defendants, as well as others caught up in the sweeping investigation — which stretched from Baltimore to Kansas City — claim their talk never rose beyond the level of fantasy and they never intended to harm anyone. Although they have not denied participating in training events, attending meetings, and communicating with other defendants, they claim that no actual conspiracy to kidnap the governor ever existed.

Instead, they say, they were targeted because of their political views. Some describe the case as a premeditated campaign by the government to undermine the Patriot movement, an ideology based on fealty to the Second Amendment and the conviction that the government has violated the Constitution and is therefore illegitimate. They argue that the recordings and text messages that the government calls proof of a criminal conspiracy are in fact constitutionally protected speech — expressions of frustration at what they see as the government’s betrayal of its citizens.

Attorneys for all but one of the defendants declined invitations to comment on the record for this story. To date, one defendant has formally accused the government of entrapment, arguing that the FBI assembled the key plotters, encouraged the group's anti-government feelings, and even gave its members military-style training. Additional defendants have said they plan to make similar claims when the cases, divided between federal and state court, go to trial starting as soon as October.

Last week, the lawyer for one defendant filed a motion that included texts from an FBI agent to a key informant, the Iraq War veteran, directing him to draw specific people into the conspiracy — potential evidence of entrapment that he said the government “inadvertently disclosed.” He is requesting all texts sent and received by that informant, and other attorneys are now considering motions that accuse the government of intentionally withholding evidence of entrapment.

Meanwhile, Gregory Townsend, one of the lead prosecutors handling the cases against eight of the defendants in Michigan state court, was reassigned in May pending an attorney general audit into whether he had withheld evidence about deals cut with informants during a murder and arson trial in Oakland County in 2000. And on Sunday, in a matter apparently unrelated to the alleged kidnapping conspiracy, one of the lead FBI agents in the case, Richard J. Trask, was charged in state court in Kalamazoo with assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

Source: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/michigan-kidnapping-gretchen-whitmer-fbi-informant

It's also interesting to look at the origin of the group behind this:
Quote:
Joe Morrison founded the Wolverine Watchmen in November 2019, just four days after he’d been hauled into court on a minor gun possession charge, and from its first days, the group focused on discussing police abuse and fantasizing about fighting back — what an FBI agent in the case later described as “a grievance and hatred towards law enforcement.”

Members decried police killings of civilians, including Breonna Taylor, Oscar Grant, and Eric Garner, three Black people shot to death by police officers, along with LaVoy Finicum, a rancher killed by law enforcement during a standoff in Oregon’s timber country in 2016. They labeled the FBI domestic terrorists and the Michigan state police the “Gestapo,” while calling for attacks on the ATF and other federal law enforcement agencies.

Source: As above.

It's amazing what sort of things you can learn if you look further into these types of incidents...



Mr Reynholm
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21 Jul 2021, 8:36 am

The_Znof wrote:
Kraichgauer wrote:
God bless the FBI for stopping these goons!


god save the FBI for not nailing Epstein but instead making propaganda with fake terrorists.

Exactly.
The FBI has proven themselves to be partisan hack organization that spys on Americans who are on the "wrong" side politically.



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21 Jul 2021, 8:39 am

Mr Reynholm wrote:
The_Znof wrote:
god save the FBI for not nailing Epstein but instead making propaganda with fake terrorists.
Exactly.  The FBI has proven themselves to be partisan hack organization that spys on Americans who are on the "wrong" side politically.
Would y'all like some tartar sauce to go with those red herrings?

:roll:


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21 Jul 2021, 9:54 am

Fnord wrote:
Mr Reynholm wrote:
The_Znof wrote:
god save the FBI for not nailing Epstein but instead making propaganda with fake terrorists.
Exactly.  The FBI has proven themselves to be partisan hack organization that spys on Americans who are on the "wrong" side politically.
Would y'all like some tartar sauce to go with those red herrings?

:roll:

They falsified documents in order to spy on the Trump campaign. No matter how you ridicule it, its a fact.



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21 Jul 2021, 10:36 am

Mr Reynholm wrote:
Fnord wrote:
Mr Reynholm wrote:
The_Znof wrote:
god save the FBI for not nailing Epstein but instead making propaganda with fake terrorists.
Exactly.  The FBI has proven themselves to be partisan hack organization that spys on Americans who are on the "wrong" side politically.
Would y'all like some tartar sauce to go with those red herrings?
They falsified documents in order to spy on the Trump campaign. No matter how you ridicule it, its a fact.
Calling a lie a "fact" does not make that lie a fact.


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Mr Reynholm
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21 Jul 2021, 1:11 pm

Fnord wrote:
Mr Reynholm wrote:
Fnord wrote:
Mr Reynholm wrote:
The_Znof wrote:
god save the FBI for not nailing Epstein but instead making propaganda with fake terrorists.
Exactly.  The FBI has proven themselves to be partisan hack organization that spys on Americans who are on the "wrong" side politically.
Would y'all like some tartar sauce to go with those red herrings?
They falsified documents in order to spy on the Trump campaign. No matter how you ridicule it, its a fact.
Calling a lie a "fact" does not make that lie a fact.

Calling a fact a lie does not make it a lie either. Kevin Clinesmith's testimony and plea deal shows it to be a fact.