chud
1yr ago
Massachusetts Man Arrested for Knowingly Concealing the Source of Material Support or Resources to a Foreign Terrorist Organization, otherwise known as the FBI grooms yet another kid; an agent have been in contact with a guy since he was 16 until 18, LARPing as an ISIS recruiter and soliciting gift cards, Indian scammer style.
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What is the value of these ploys to society? This seems morally abhorrent to me and the only justification I can find is that "he would've done it if the agent was a real ISIS member," but (a) he tried to report the contact and (b) this logic doesn't work for entrapment.
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What is the value of these ploys to the FBI? Going off tropes, more crimes = more funding more power and more reputation. If that's the case I want more concrete and detailed pathways.
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Is there a way I can access the criminal complaint? I am skeptical of the "Brain Development Issues" and think the Intercept is trying to sensationalize the story which works to the latter's detriment; what the FBI did is unacceptable even if the guy was a genius.
The effort/skill gap between getting into honeypots and real ISIS recruitment is immense; consider the weakening to irrelevance of ISIS and the ease with which FBI can just place links into search results among many other things. All the people who fall into the gap are would be innocents if not for FBI intervention. But I view this method of law enforcement distasteful, violating the presumption of innocence and akin to running a statistical analysis and arresting everyone who fit the psychological profile of terrorists.
You're underestimating the power of attachment and coercion. At the very least getting into extended contact with a recruiter builds expectations. I have as much sympathy for the false-positives as much as I have for victims of entrapment.
The low barrier to entry that allows even a 16-yo to contact them is malicious. Those are the exact types of people to commit to the cause when presented with a seemingly viable avenue for action, and would've otherwise just moved on.
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