• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

FBI failed to heed public warnings of jihad attack on AFDI Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, Texas

Dec 23, 2015 8:43 am By Robert Spencer

Why did these warnings go unheeded? Could it have been because the Obama FBI didn’t approve of our standing for the freedom of speech in this way? If this had been a Leftist conference on “Islamophobia” that was threatened with violence by “right-wing extremists,” would the FBI have failed to act? What do you think?

James Comey

“FBI failed to heed public warnings of Mohammed cartoon contest attack in Garland, TX,” RT, December 23, 2015 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

Undermining FBI Director James Comey’s claim that encryption hinders terrorism investigations, the director of SITE Intelligence Group said the FBI was warned a week before the Garland, Texas attack occurred, citing the attacker’s public Twitter activity.

For Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), the May 3 attack in Garland was its first inspired act of terrorism on US soil, targeting Pamela Geller’s ‘Mohammed Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest’. Although no one died, it was not carried out all that differently from the deadly, IS-inspired attacks in Chattanooga, Tennessee in July or the San Bernardino, California attack in November.

“There is in fact no evidence that [the Garland attack] or any of these other lone-wolf attacks could have been prevented by regulation of encryption technology,” Rita Katz, director and co-founder of the Search for International Terrorist Entities Intelligence Group, wrote in The Washington Post.

That analysis conflicts with implications made by Comey to the Senate Judiciary Committee about how Garland might have been prevented.

“That morning, before one of those terrorists left to try and commit mass murder, he exchanged 109 messages with an overseas terrorist,” Comey, said. “We have no idea what he said, because those messages were encrypted.”

The way Katz tells it, however, what happened that morning is not as important as what did a week, or more, before.

Garland shooter Elton Simpson was already known by the FBI to use Twitter, as he followed and messaged well-known jihadists, according to an Associated Press source in federal law enforcement, as well as Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas).

McCaul also has said the Department of Homeland Security and FBI issued joint intelligence bulletins to local authorities on April 20, warning the Garland cartoon contest was a likely target.

One of the jihadists Simpson followed on Twitter was IS recruiter Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, also known as “Miski,” an American member operating in Somalia. Ten days before the Garland shooting, Hassan tweeted, “The brothers from the Charlie Hebdo attack did their part. It’s time for brothers in the #US to do their part,” along with an attached news link announcing the upcoming Mohammed cartoon contest. Simpson retweeted him.

Simpson’s final tweet came hours before the Garland attack, saying in part, “May Allah accept us as mujahideen,” and ending with the hashtag #texasattack.

Katz located these tweets using open source information, “arguably the most important tool in tracking jihadists online,” she wrote, stressing that encryption technology is the wrong bugaboo for the FBI to be focusing on.

“Regulation of these programs will take jihadists next to no time to circumvent; the U.S. government would be the one taking years to catch up,” Katz wrote….

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: FBI, Featured, free speech Tagged With: James Comey, Rita Katz


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. neversink says

    Dec 23, 2015 at 9:25 am

    I think you may have a good law suit. After all, the FBI should not be forced to choose who to protect. I am sure a good law firm might just be interested.
    Good luck.

    • Hammer31 says

      Dec 23, 2015 at 8:56 pm

      The lawsuit will be thrown out as soon as it is filed. The SCOTUS has ruled that police have no duty to protect anyone but the “society”. If you as an individual or a group do not get protection that you think you should be getting, you have no legal leg to stand on. They just took the option of not doing anything and there is nothing that ANYONE can do about it UNLESS the congress changes the law as it pertains to federal Law Enforcement and the president must then sign it. Good luck with that….

  2. duh_swami says

    Dec 23, 2015 at 10:12 am

    I’m not surprised that Rsool O has henchmen//women…what5 is surprising is that there are so many of them…The new Republican President is going to have a lot of housecleaning to do…

  3. Ciudadano says

    Dec 23, 2015 at 10:24 am

    109 encrypted messages exchanged in single morning with a known overseas terrorist???????

    The FBI should’ve assign a dedicated agent to closely follow that man. It doesn’t take an expert intelligence analyst to realize they are about to do something evil.

  4. mortimer says

    Dec 23, 2015 at 12:00 pm

    Obama’s presidency is more concerned about ‘hurt feelings’ of Muslims than about the freedom of expression.

    Obama is supporting the Shariafication of America by lending support to Sharia’s anti-blasphemy provisions.

    Vigilantism is permitted by Sharia law in the matter of executing a blasphemer. Anyone may kill a blasphemer with impunity. Sharia law provides no punishment for killing a blasphemer or apostate.

  5. Bradley Lexvold says

    Dec 23, 2015 at 12:06 pm

    I was at Garland as I had 11 entries in the contest. When the thumping of the glass and the people came briskly back in, they were without fear, and it wasn’t because of security. They were vigilant of their eternal souls, so fear has no place to anchor. I’ve never seen a group so loyal in my life. No president, no church leader, no public figure has the loyal following AFDI has. No one there has any trust in our government, and don’t waste time trying to school people over you. If they aren’t qualified to be in their positions, replace them. This is a Little Red Hen moment. I’m trying to start United States 2.0 so we have a place of sanity to work out of. Who wants to help? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKRgv9r61jo http://www.secedelinks.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYnvgGpajas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YKfbOKDJ2k adleylevold@gmail.com

  6. eduardo odraude says

    Dec 23, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    Hard to say for sure what the FBI’s reasons were, but it’s plausible that Obama has created an atmosphere where the FBI would prefer to avoid being in the position of gunning down jihadists in order to defend a Muhammad cartoon contest. That might have produced a huge international public relations disaster from the Obama point of view. Potential headline: The FBI kills to defend “Islamophobia.” In that light, the FBI might have decided other security threats — and certainly the FBI has a lot on its plate — were to be played up as more serious and dangerous than threats against Garland.

  7. Judi says

    Dec 23, 2015 at 7:08 pm

    In my humble opinion, the obvious reason is that they were under orders not to act on the information they had as they wanted Robert, Pamela, et al to be killed. This would have done CAIR, Obama and the whole corrupt government a big favour. No longer would they have had any voices of dissent to expose their corrupt agenda, and could then carry on unhindered in their plan to islamisise the US.

  8. Angemon says

    Dec 23, 2015 at 7:40 pm

    The way Katz tells it, however, what happened that morning is not as important as what did a week, or more, before.

    He has a narrative to push.

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • janicevanguilder on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Boycott Turkey on Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, France and UAE conduct joint military exercises amid rising Turkish threat
  • Yogi on EU Parliament members call for firing of border agency director for preventing illegal migrants from entering Europe
  • Hoi Polloi on Why so many Muslims can’t wait for Biden to get inaugurated
  • Hoi Polloi on EU Parliament members call for firing of border agency director for preventing illegal migrants from entering Europe

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.