Domestic Right Wing Terrorists!

[Gaspar]

I have not heard that to be the case, which would surprise me if they are in fact any better, but I can't personally verify that. It's been some 10 years since I've flown out of San Diego. Do they give you a free massage during the pat down or something?

Slightly more gentle with the "shocker", and they offer you a smoke afterwords. 

No, they've just figured out how to move people very efficiently, and those that they do select for additional scrutiny, they mark and screen at the gate.  . . .and San Diego is not the only airport using private screeners.

[patric]

Days before his arrest in Pittsburgh last month, Khalifa Ali al-Akili posted a remarkable message on his Facebook page: A mysterious man who spoke often of jihad had tried to interest Akili in buying a gun, then later introduced him to a second man, whom Akili was assured was "all about the struggle."

It smelled, Akili wrote on Facebook, like a setup.
"I had a feeling that I had just played out a part in some Hollywood movie where I had just been introduced to the leader of a 'terrorist' sleeper cell," Akili wrote.  When he googled a phone number provided by the second man, it turned out to be to Shahed Hussain, one of the FBI's most prolific and controversial informants for terrorism cases. Soon the sting was off; Akili was subsequently arrested on gun — not terrorism — charges, which he has denied.

It was a rare miss for Hussain, 55, who has played a wealthy, dapper member of a Pakistani terrorist group in several FBI operations over nearly a decade.
This role has inflamed Muslim and civil rights activists, who describe Hussain as an "agent provocateur," and prompted harsh comments from the presiding judge in a 2010 case, who questioned his honesty and the aggressiveness of the FBI's tactics.

"I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that there would have been no crime here except the government instigated it, planned it and brought it to fruition," said U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon at the sentencing of four men from Newburgh, N.Y., convicted on terrorism charges.

There have been 138 terrorism or national security cases involving informants since 2001, and 51 of those have come over the past three years, according to the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School in New York. The center said the government secured convictions in 91 percent of those cases.
Law enforcement officials say stings are a vital tactic for heading off terrorism. But civil rights activists and others say the FBI has been identifying individuals with radical views who, despite brash talk, might have little ability to launch attacks without the government's help.

"It almost seems like the government is creating a theatrical event that produces more fear in the community," said Michael German, a senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union and a former FBI agent who worked undercover.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/documents-provide-rare-insight-into-fbis-terrorism-stings/2012/04/13/gIQASJ6CGT_story.html

[patric]

NEW YORK — A paid informant for the New York Police Department's intelligence unit was under orders to "bait" Muslims into saying inflammatory things as he lived a double life, snapping pictures inside mosques and collecting the names of innocent people attending study groups on Islam, he told The Associated Press.
Shamiur Rahman, a 19-year-old American of Bangladeshi descent who has now denounced his work as an informant, said police told him to embrace a strategy called "create and capture." He said it involved creating a conversation about jihad or terrorism, then capturing the response to send to the NYPD. For his work, he earned as much as $1,000 a month and goodwill from the police after a string of minor marijuana arrests.

"We need you to pretend to be one of them," Rahman recalled the police telling him. "It's street theater."

The AP corroborated Rahman's account through arrest records and weeks of text messages between Rahman and his police handler. The AP also reviewed the photos Rahman sent to police. Friends confirmed Rahman was at certain events when he said he was there, and former NYPD officials, while not personally familiar with Rahman, said the tactics he described were used by informants.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/23/shamiur-rahman-nypd-paid-muslims-bait-jihad-terrorism_n_2005141.html

[guido911]

Here's  right winger getting the boot...

[Townsend]

Here's  right winger getting the boot...

There were two.

[heironymouspasparagus]

You simply have a better chance of getting caught when molested by private employees when packing a gun in your fumunda. . .and it's a much more enjoyable and efficient experience.  

Anyone who travels through San Diego will tell you that TSA there is a whole different creature than anywhere else.

??  Curious...how are they different?

I have been through there a couple of times in the last 4 years and didn't really seem that much different to me....
Didn't detect much difference in Burbank, or Orange County (John Wayne), either.  Except for the general differences of being California...


Or Phoenix, Las Vegas, Portland, Seattle, Memphis, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Dallas - well, yeah maybe Dallas...

[Teatownclown]

Guido, brace yourself for lots more of these incidents come Wens. 

[patric]

Senate bill to allow warrantless government access to your online services

In a dumbfounding display of politics at work, a U.S. Senate bill that, at one point, would have protected e-mail privacy has gone the opposite way, and would allow government surveillance of online services without a warrant if passed into law.

Previously, the bill protected users' privacy by requiring a warrant that established probable cause.  CNET reports that U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy has rewritten the bill so that, in some cases, government agencies would need only a subpoena to access electronic communications, such as email, Facebook, and Google Docs.

In many cases, searches would still require a warrant. Still, if law enforcement claims that the situation is an emergency, the agency could gain access without a warrant or a subsequent court review.

CNet reports that the bill, HR 2471, could see a vote next week. Leahy was also behind the Protect IP Act (or PIPA), which collapsed in response to backlash from citizens, tech companies, and advocacy groups. Perhaps he's hoping the holiday weekend will prevent outrage from boiling over on this new--and equally terrifying--bill.
Overall, 22 federal agencies would have access to electronic communications under these circumstances, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

Also, the rewritten bill states that online service providers, such as Google, would have to notify law enforcement in advance if the company planned to inform users about the account access. Notification would also be delayed from 3 days to 10 business days, and could be postponed up to nearly a year.

Leahy changed course on the bill under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department, which felt that its criminal investigations would be hampered by the need to secure search warrants.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Slippery slope started way back in ancient history with the Patriot Act...  tried to tell people, but they just don't listen....

[patric]

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – One Pittsburgh man was arrested early Christmas morning after allegedly shooting off a gun in the street and taunting a police dog.

Once police arrived at the residence, they noticed that the front door of the house had appeared to be kicked in and saw scattered shell casings.
The officers then suspected a possible home invasion when they saw 39-year-old Shawn Seif exiting the house.

Officers say they believed Seif was a possible suspect and after he ignored multiple commands to follow orders, was taken into police custody.
Later it was discovered that the house was Seif's residence, but officers say he never identified himself as the homeowner.
While handcuffed by police, authorities say Seif attempted multiple times to reach for a handgun in his pants pocket.

He is also accused of threatening to shoot his gun and taunting the police dog at the scene, saying, "I'm gonna kill Fido. Just let that dog bite me and I will bite him back."

Police then did a sweep of Seif's house, where they say they found several boxes of ammunition, a loaded magazine and a marijuana plant in his living room.
They also found several other guns in the house, according to the police report.

Seif is charged with four counts, including maliciously taunting a police animal, resisting arrest, terroristic threats and prohibited acts.

[heironymouspasparagus]

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – One Pittsburgh man was arrested early Christmas morning after allegedly shooting off a gun in the street and taunting a police dog.

Once police arrived at the residence, they noticed that the front door of the house had appeared to be kicked in and saw scattered shell casings.
The officers then suspected a possible home invasion when they saw 39-year-old Shawn Seif exiting the house.

Officers say they believed Seif was a possible suspect and after he ignored multiple commands to follow orders, was taken into police custody.
Later it was discovered that the house was Seif's residence, but officers say he never identified himself as the homeowner.
While handcuffed by police, authorities say Seif attempted multiple times to reach for a handgun in his pants pocket.

He is also accused of threatening to shoot his gun and taunting the police dog at the scene, saying, "I'm gonna kill Fido. Just let that dog bite me and I will bite him back."

Police then did a sweep of Seif's house, where they say they found several boxes of ammunition, a loaded magazine and a marijuana plant in his living room.
They also found several other guns in the house, according to the police report.

Seif is charged with four counts, including maliciously taunting a police animal, resisting arrest, terroristic threats and prohibited acts.

Maliciously taunting a police animal....  wow, they really had to stretch for that one, didn't they...?

Prohibited acts??  That really sounds open ended....


So glad I never got caught shooting a gun in the street... I would really hate to be accused of 'prohibited acts'....  Does that require one to sign onto the sex offender registry??

[Hoss]

Maliciously taunting a police animal....  wow, they really had to stretch for that one, didn't they...?

Prohibited acts??  That really sounds open ended....


So glad I never got caught shooting a gun in the street... I would really hate to be accused of 'prohibited acts'....  Does that require one to sign onto the sex offender registry??

You do realize that in most urban areas (ours included) it is illegal to discharge a firearm...right?  Without cause?

[patric]

You do realize that in most urban areas (ours included) it is illegal to discharge a firearm...right?  Without cause?

"Celebratory gunfire" is juvenile and irresponsible, and we do (rightfully) have penalties.
We just havent gotten around to calling it "terrorism" yet.

[heironymouspasparagus]

You do realize that in most urban areas (ours included) it is illegal to discharge a firearm...right?  Without cause?

Yes, I do.  And, if nothing else, I am a law-abiding citizen for the most part.  So, not only am I glad I never got caught, I would be seriously surprised if I had been caught, since I haven't actually shot a gun in the street.  I agree completely with Patric about "celebratory gunfire", and all the possible ramifications from that.  As for New Years and/or 4th of July, I don't get drunk either to go along with the gun play - one or two glasses of wine and no machine guns!

We have an excellent mechanism for loud noises and bright flashes of light - fireworks!  Love fireworks.  Those, on the other hand, I have set off in the street - sad to say, this is one of those areas where I have "fallen down" in the past regarding laws and setting off the occasional light/boom.  Happily, in recent years, at least one of our local metro areas lets a person by a "ticket/permit" to do that legally - Broken Arrow.  Since I have close acquaintances there, I get to scratch that particular itch without adverse effects.  Don't know if Tulsa has that, since I never do fireworks in town...I just go watch the "big" display downtown.

[AquaMan]

I love the "maliciously taunting a police animal" charge. That made me laugh since I routinely maliciously taunt my own dogs who routinely ignore me.

The charges that guy received were basically in lieu of "behaving stupidly in public and while police discharged their duties".