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We don't know enough about what happened to conclude that the FBI acted improperly, do we? The Intercept article says, "In August 2021, when he was 16 years old, Ventura began communicating with an undercover FBI agent online. He told the agent of his desire to make “hijrah,” or migrate to territories under control of the Islamic State." That certainly sounds like he initiated the conversation, though we can't know for sure.
Then, after backing out of plans to go abroad, " In January 2023, just after his 18th birthday, Ventura got back in touch with the FBI agent on the encrypted messaging platform. Apologizing for not being communicative in previous months after his supposed injury, Ventura again said he wanted to travel to the Islamic State. The pair discussed the possibility of him dying in an attack by ISIS fighters somewhere in the world or attending a training camp." Again, that sounds like he reinitiated contact and claimed to be interested in going.
And I am not too impressed with him calling the FBI tip line, given that he demanded $10 million in cash in duffel bags.
None of this means that he was a threat; the cash in duffel bags thing certainly supports the notion that he is not all there. But unless the FBI knew that, which they probably didn't, that says nothing about the propriety of their actions. And note that young, not very sharp, males are probably the demographic most likely to actually go through with joining violent groups or with harebrained schemes like going abroad to wage jihad.
The irony would be if he was only going along with the 'recruiter' in order to scam them, as the FBI were at the same time scamming him.
Either he thought he really was talking to a genuine terrorist, or sometime during the two years he figured out it was the Feds. Either way, his ultimate goal was to get money out of them by claiming "I totally have solid real info about a terror attack, trust me, just pay me and give me immunity (so I can't be done for blackmail) and I'll tell you" while having no intention ever of going anywhere near a genuine attack or martyrdom.
Feds hate him! He got free machine guns and a cute informant gf with this one weird trick!
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After all the sordid scam investigation history of the FBI I wouldn't presume good faith. The press in general has also tended toward covering up and cooperating with FBI, so I wouldn't parse The Intercept's exact wording as a clue to figuring out what happened. Granted, we don't know enough to say for sure what happened. But the precis makes this sound very sketchy. How likely was it for some autist 16-year-old to get anywhere on his own merits without the FBI stepping in?
I am not arguing that we should presume good faith. I am arguing for not presuming bad faith.
I have no idea what the data says on that. Do you? Presumably, it depends on the degree and type of autism. Assuming this guy has autism in the first place.
About the FBI? You should re-evaluate your life's choices my dude. If the FBI told me the sky was blue I'd go outside to check, just in case.
Perhaps you should evaluate your vulnerability to availability bias.
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Not-all-there males in their late teens leave behind body counts all the time. Now whether the FBI is stepping in to assist these budding mass shooters, I couldn’t tell you, but they are uh, mostly not unabomber level geniuses nor pictures of mental health.
Right, as I noted, "young, not very sharp, males are probably the demographic most likely to actually go through with joining violent groups or with harebrained schemes like going abroad to wage jihad."
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