Another 'Terrorist' Swept Up By The FBI, Which Had To Purchase $20 Of 'Terrorist' Supplies To Keep The 'Plan' In Motion
from the and-threatened-his-family,-which-is-a-nice-use-of-gov't-resources dept
Perhaps no entity generates more fake news than the FBI's counterterrorism unit. Several times a year, a press release is issued announcing the bust of a so-called terrorist. Almost invariably, the "terrorist" has been handcrafted through the relentless intercession of undercover FBI agents.
Here's how the DOJ website describes its latest self-crafted anti-terrorism coup:
Robert Lorenzo Hester, Jr., 25, of Columbia, Missouri, was charged in a criminal complaint with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization. Hester was charged in federal court based on his role in making preparations to launch a terrorist attack with persons he believed were associated with ISIS, who were actually undercover law enforcement personnel.
And here are the far more mundane and sad details behind the official statement, as provided by Murtaza Hussain of The Intercept.
Robert Lorenzo Hester of Columbia, Missouri, didn’t have the $20 he needed to buy the 9-volt batteries, duct tape, and roofing nails his new FBI friends wanted him to get, so they gave him the money. The agents noted in a criminal complaint that Hester, who at one point brought his two small children to a meeting because he didn’t have child care, continued smoking marijuana despite professing to be a devout Muslim.
This is the supposed terrorist who would have killed hundreds of people on President's Day if the FBI hadn't stepped in to intervene. But the FBI's "intervention" looks suspiciously like "encouragement…" or "entrapment."
[T]he only contact Hester had with ISIS was with the two undercover agents who suggested to him that they had connections with the group. The agents, who were in contact with him for five months, provided him with money and rides home from work as he dealt with the personal fallout of an unrelated arrest stemming from an altercation at a local grocery store.
Undercover agents began working with/on Hester shortly after this arrest. Seizing on his anti-government social media posts [good lord], the agents told Hester they could put him in touch with someone with direct terrorist connections. This "direct connection" was just another FBI agent. It was the FBI that suggested acquiring weapons. And it was the FBI who chose to take Hester seriously, despite his nonexistent terrorist group ("the Lion Guard") sporting a name that had been pulled from a cartoon his children watched.
It was also an FBI agent who suggested that even thinking about planning a terrorist attack was an irrevocable act -- and that entertaining second thoughts about committing acts of violence would be rewarded with acts of violence.
The agent cautioned Hester that once he decided to proceed there was “no turning back.” He also told Hester that under no circumstances was he to do conduct any sort of operation on his own. The agent, referred to in the complaint as UC-2, then “threatened to come back and find HESTER if he learned that HESTER reneged on the promise. For emphasis, and for the purpose of mitigating the security threat posed by HESTER, UC-2 displayed a knife and reminded HESTER that UC-2 knew where HESTER and his family lived, among other forceful words.”
After threatening his family, FBI agents continued to push Hester forward with "his" plan to commit an act of terrorism. His plans required $20 worth of supplies… which Hester couldn't afford. But Hester did promise to be more materially-supportive in the near future:
Hester promised that he would help buy ammunition for the weapons once he had received the money from his tax refund.
A lot of the FBI's standard counterterrorism M.O. is on display here. The agency prefers to work with people in desperate or dire circumstances -- people who don't have the financial independence or mental toughness needed to create and carry out plans on their own. And when they get cold feet, agents apparently suggest their dire circumstances will be made even worse. The end result is the government congratulating itself for rounding up "terrorists" that likely never would have gone beyond anti-government Facebook posts if they'd been left alone. And for the few who appear capable of committing violent acts, the government pushes these people towards extremism rather than attempt to pull them back from this precipice.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: doj, fbi, own plot, robert hester, terroism
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
your mother must be so proud, mr. fbi guy
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
it is called credibility. since we know td being used by google as advertisement venue disguised as journalism, what are the guarantees this is any different?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
hmmm
ALso shows that asking peopel about their neighbors is a huge waste of time. "Ohhh he was always such a nice boy until we found his dad's head in the freezer"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: hmmm
FBI is more interested in making a big looking arrest than in getting people the help they need.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: hmmm
Likewise, it's easy to aspire to chaos and destruction and violent overthrow of the system when you are literally on the bottom of it- the moment you actually have, say, $20 you could spend on the task, "I could do violence" is now actively competing with "Or I could have a slightly better life".
I don't think it's a difficult to say that the former is much more attractive when it isn't competing with anything.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: hmmm
For someone who "continued smoking marijuana despite professing to be a devout Muslim." I'm guessing that having the will do do much of anything more than hunt down a bag of potato chips was probably asking a lot of him.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
NCIS > FBI
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: hmmm
Apparently they gave him a chance to back out.
Sure, they gave him a chance...after they threatened to harm his family. If you were in his position, what would you have done?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Imagine if...
But then, America is in the business of slave prisons, so the more people arrested the better it is for business.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Did i miss the part where the guy's name is Macgyver?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I revisit my previous comment about needing someone to investigate this terrorist organization call "F.B.I." they have launched more plots against the US than any other terrorist organization.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170203/10532836625/real-controversy-over-non-existe nt-bowling-green-massacre-is-that-it-was-fbis-own-plot.shtml#c64
We should get some department to look into these terrorists known as the 'FBI'. They create terrorist 'plots' to influence & frighten the public. They target individuals whom they can sway, by feeding them false information to get them to take the blame for the actions of the 'FBI'.
They are working to undermine the freedoms of our homeland, using our own money & systems against us. This type of terrorism should be stopped. It is shameful that out leaders blindly supported these supposed allies who have created numerous plots we are aware of and quite possibly dozens more they hide from view, to maintain our financial and legal support while tearing the country apart.
Our leadership is willing to turn a blind eye to these events, hoping to score political capital at the expense of the safety & well being of citizens. What kind of monsters would risk the safety of the country they pledged to protect, to get good soundbites while ignoring real threats to further a political agenda.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Imagine if...
If they have to invent crimes to get "results", they will. If they have to convince otherwise innocent people to come within a hair's width of committing violence just to arrest those people and claim they were "radicalized terrorists", they will. Nothing is more important to LEOs than "getting results", even if those results come at the expense of people who would have committed no crimes if not for the cajoling of undercover agents of the state.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Have you forgotten about the signature weapon of the Bowling Green Massacre already?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Bowling Green Massacre
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Among other problems.
How many man-hours were spent on this one? To be honest, the only *actual* benefit of cases like this that I can see is that it might make people distrust those claiming to be able to hook them up with terrorist groups or encouraging them to commit crimes.
But, on the other hand, so far it looks like the only people caught up in this kind of trap are pretty... err... well, not the most *skeptical* of people, shall we say?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Inalienable doesn't mean what it did in the 1700's apparently.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Where are the "second amendment advocates" now?
And here again. Why don't these "second amendment advocates" form a group, walk into whatever FBI field office this poor sod is being held in, and demand his release or else?
Where are these "second amendment advocates" when their gun-toting could be used to ACTUALLY DEFEND SOMEONE?!
Oh right, they're protesting Obamacare in front of the Lincoln Memorial again...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
This may sound strange, but can we devote more FBI resources to basic neighborhood care, such as rides to/from work for ex-cons and financial support? Perhaps if we did that more, people in this country wouldn't feel that a one-way ticket to martyr town is their only choice.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Where are the "second amendment advocates" now?
Are you an FBI Agent?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Imagine if...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Columbia Debacle
Why aren't there any jokes about The Columbia Massacre, yet?
Personally I'm outraged that these continue to go on which does more damage by fueling fear than good.
Wait...do these actually do good?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: hmmm
Does anyone know any such stories? Or is it the case that nobody actually trusts the police in America to arrest terrorists?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Informing on the plants
We may not actually hear about it, especially if the terrorists pull rank on the local precinct officers.
What I'd expect to happen is that the FBI would send more undercover agents as the police officers and they'd continue to try to trick the target into threatening national security.
Some of the previous stories got pretty gaslighty, where the victim was worked on until he cut off his real friends in favor of his fake ones.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: hmmm
I'll preface this by stating that I can't seem to find the article that covered it, so the details might be off, but the closest I can think of was a case a few years back where either the FBI or another group sent someone to play 'terrorist recruiter' in a mosque in the US, the people there got suspicious and tried to report the agent, only to have pressure brought to bear on them in an attempt to turn them into unwilling informants.
Like I said though, I can't find the article so the details might be somewhat off, though trying to force people to become informants and punishing those that refuse is S.O.P. for the FBI, so it's likely to be fairly close.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Where are the "second amendment advocates" now?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Making America safe one dumbass at a time.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
No
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: hmmm
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Where are the "second amendment advocates" now?
http://on-t-internet.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/come-revolution-good-luck-with-that.html
Read, laugh, cry...
...then consider peaceful campaigning as an option for effecting regime change. Protip: if you can't find people to get on board with you, you're either barking up the wrong tree or too damn fussy about who you campaign with. Open your mind. You don't have to agree with your fellow campaigners all the time to work effectively with them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Re: Where are the "second amendment advocates" now?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Violent protest.
I do sometimes have fantasies about sabotage campaigns.
When the police departments were being coy about cellphone spoofing technology, I thought it would be interesting to topple their fake towers, since they couldn't say publicly what they were and why they were needed.
Still, one has to be super careful to avoid causing injury.
Maybe this is why hacktivism is in vogue.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: hmmm
More like "Ohhh he was always such a nice boy until we explained to him that his dad was evil incarnate and convinced him to cut off his head with the knife we gave him and put it in the freezer".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Imagine if...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
The Ends Jusitify the Budget
The end result is the government congratulating itself for rounding up "terrorists" that likely never would have gone beyond anti-government Facebook posts if they'd been left alone.
The end result is unfortunately a bit more convoluted than a simple pat on the back for the government.
In shoveling this steaming pile of horse cocky terror tale to it's stenographers in the media to transcribe verbatim and disseminate widely the US government is able to paint a fearful vista of terrorists under every rock that aids in justifying it's odious attacks on the Constitution and the ever increasing amount of finite tax dollars it squanders on these dubious entrapment schemes.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Where are the "second amendment advocates" now?
Whenever it's paying a 2 cent tax on their cigarettes to help combat the effects of second hand smoke, or someone telling the coal companies that pollute their very own drinking water that they have to spend a few extra dollars to bury their toxic coal dust in a manner that doesn't pollute the ground water, these "second amendment advocates" are all over that, showing up to protest with assault rifles and live ammo (though usually they do have good enough sense to keep the weapons unloaded. Usually.)
But when it comes to, oh I don't know, ACTUALLY DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION, they're nowhere to be found.
The joke, in case you're not getting it, is that these "second amendment advocates" are all too happy to "adovcate" their one little amendment when it's in their favor. They fail to understand, though, that a true defender of the constitution would show up even when they don't agree with how the constitution affects them. A TRUE patriot and a TRUE defender of liberty would show up at abortion clinics and protect the women there from harm, rather than threatening them with eternal hell, EVEN IF they are personally opposed to abortion, because THAT'S what the constitution is all about.
I just wish I didn't have to explain this. -_-
[ link to this | view in thread ]