Roughly 900 investigations into homegrown terrorists underway across U.S.

Roughly 900 investigations into homegrown terrorists – many with ties to ISIS – underway across U.S.: Homeland Security

BY RICH SCHAPIRO
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, November 18, 2015, 7:51 PM

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JIM COLE/AP

“The fact that they were able to get assault weapons — which are not available in France — attack multiple sites, carry it out with perfect synchronization and not be detected shows a level of sophistication that we did not think ISIS had,” Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) told the Daily News.


A group of disaffected youths, quietly radicalized in some out-of-the-way suburb, launch a bloody attack on an American shopping mall.

That nightmare scenario is at the heart of a sweeping U.S. intelligence effort to smoke out potential ISIS converts in all 50 states.

Roughly 900 investigations into homegrown terrorists, the vast majority with ties to ISIS, are underway from Alabama to Wyoming, according to a recent report by the Department of Homeland Security.

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The dragnet has already produced results — 71 suspects have been arrested or charged in ISIS-related cases since 2014, the report says.

But the complexity of the large-scale attack in Paris has rattled anti-terror experts.

“The fact that they were able to get assault weapons — which are not available in France — attack multiple sites, carry it out with perfect synchronization and not be detected shows a level of sophistication that we did not think ISIS had,” Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) told the Daily News.

The wannabe jihadists rounded up in the U.S. over the past year were a diverse bunch — Americans, immigrants, even a handful of newly arrived refugees.

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There was a pizza delivery guy in Texas, a U.S. Air Force veteran in New Jersey and a homemaker in Virginia.

Six Bosnian immigrants — three naturalized citizens, the others with refugee or legal resident status — were rounded up in February on charges of sending money and military equipment to ISIS fighters abroad.

A portrait has emerged of those most likely to fall under ISIS’ spell.

Most ISIS sympathizers arrested in the U.S. were American citizens in their early 20s, according to a study by the Center on National Security.

A third were late converts to Islam, and roughly 15% were women.

Eight out of 10 suspects were recruited via social media.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.2439793

People on FBI terror watch list can buy guns legally in U.S.

Rep. Pete King is a complete idiot and an illegal alien amnesty supporter.

W

FBI DIRECTOR ESTIMATES 900 ACTIVE INVESTIGATIONS OF ISIS OPERATIVES IN U.S.

http://www.breitbart.com

http://media.breitbart.com/media/201...rs-640x480.jpgKevin Lamarque/Reuters

by JOHN HAYWARD 23 Oct 2015 1,732

Addressing intelligence officials on Friday, FBI Director James Comey delivered a stunning estimate of 900 investigations currently in progress against suspected ISIS operatives, recruits, and individuals “inspired” by the Islamic State, and the number of investigations is slowly growing.

USA Today notes it is rare for FBI officials to discuss the number of investigations in this way. Comey seems to have disclosed the number in order to buttress his case that the Bureau is finding it very difficult to keep up with the anti-ISIS caseload. Referring to a particularly intense period of counter-terror activity around the Fourth of July, Comey warned, “If that becomes the new normal… that would be hard to keep up.”

Comey noted the number of Americans defecting to ISIS has decreased recently, though admitted to not being certain why this is the case—perhaps the significant number of recruits, thwarted by the FBI in their efforts to make the journey to the Middle East, has made others more cautious about trying it, as such, arrests make big news headlines. It could also be growing more difficult for the Islamic State to secure passage for its recruits into Syria.

However, USA Today ominously notes it is “unclear” how the drop-off in ISIS recruits leaving the country “may be affecting the domestic threat.” If the number of ISIS investigations is growing, but the number of recruits leaving the country is declining, it is natural to worry that means more dangerous individuals loyal to the Islamic State and its murderous ideology are plotting violent acts on American soil.

Comey seemed inclined to view the reduction in ISIS recruits departing for the Middle East as good news in testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee earlier this week.

“We’re starting to notice that curve, which was going up like a hockey stick, has flattened a little bit,” the FBI Director said on Wednesday, as reported by The Hill. “We are seeing fewer people attempt to travel to join ISIL in Syria.” He characterized the rate as dropping from roughly nine departures per month, to only six over the past three and a half months.

He also allowed for the possibility that ISIS recruits are still making the trip to Syria but have developed means of doing so without getting caught.

Comey also addressed the danger of trained terrorist recruits returning to the United States after serving abroad in the ISIS military. He described it as an issue the FBI planned to watch “for the next five years plus,” because “inevitably, there will be a terrorist diaspora out of the so-called Caliphate.”

http://www.breitbart.com/national-se...operatives-u-s

Comey: Feds have roughly 900 domestic probes about Islamic State operatives, other extremists

Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY 4:33 p.m. EDT October 23, 2015
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(Photo: Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images)


WASHINGTON — FBI Director James Comey said Friday that federal authorities have an estimated 900 active investigations pending against suspected Islamic State-inspired operatives and other home-grown violent extremists across the country.

In a speech to intelligence officials, Comey initially indicated that all 900 of the inquiries were ISIL related. Later, officials said the vast majority involved ISIL but the number also included other U.S.-based extremists.

Still, Comey said that the total number of inquiries is "slowly climbing" as ISIL has sought to expand their reach into the U.S., targeting largely young, disaffected potential operatives through a provocative social media campaign.

The national scope of U.S.-based extremist inquiries has been the subject of much recent discussion. But rarely has there been a public reference to a number of such investigations.

Because the pace of the investigations has varied in the last several months, Comey said it was still unclear whether the bureau had the necessary resources to meet the demand. Comey referred to a particularly taxing period in mid-summer when federal authorities expressed public concern about the prospect of an attack around the July Fourth holiday.

"If that becomes the new normal ... That would be hard to keep up," the director said, though he said the pace has eased somewhat recently.

Since July 1, the director said, investigators have been tracking a decline in numbers of Americans seeking to travel to Syria to join forces with ISIL. But it is unclear how that drop-off may be affecting the domestic threat.

"Something has happened that is flattening the curve (the number of travelers)," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...obes/74455460/

900 probes? Really? And this is the first we've heard of it? Really? Where are they probing? Americans who live in these areas have the right to know if there are ISIS or even ISIS-friendly or ISIS-related people in their neighborhood or city.

11/19/15

Dozens Under Watch in the US Out of Fear of Paris Copycat Attack

50 killed in shooting at Florida nightclub in possible act of Islamic terror

Apparently "probing" isn't getting the job done. Was the Orlando Terrorist even on the Terror Watch List? We don't even know. This guy having been reported twice by co-workers should have been under surveillance, being tailed and tracked by someone, a security company, a local police department, and/or the FBI.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Judy

Apparently "probing" isn't getting the job done. Was the Orlando Terrorist even on the Terror Watch List? We don't even know. This guy having been reported twice by co-workers should have been under surveillance, being tailed and tracked by someone, a security company, a local police department, and/or the FBI.

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Roughly 900 investigations into homegrown terrorists underway across U.S.


How many of the 900 do you want to tail 24/7?

. . . physically monitoring suspects is an expensive and complicated proposition — in both money and manpower. A former French anti-terrorism official stated, “The system is overwhelmed.”


U.S. intelligence experts are well aware of the problems of mounting a 24/7 round-the-clock surveillance on suspects. “It’s a manpower eater,” said Phillip A. Parker, a veteran former FBI counterintelligence agent, “and it takes away from other cases.”


To keep a target under continuous surveillance, according to one experienced FBI source who asked to remain anonymous, could require three eight-hour shifts or perhaps two 12-hour shifts, with four special agents each shift. Several cars would be needed, sometimes even airplanes. If only one car was used, the person might quickly realize he was being followed.


“If you are just sitting around in the street, somebody’s going to notice you,” Parker explained. “If it’s a real sensitive case, you just cannot be made. You would run five or six cars, maybe seven or eight. If you don’t want any chance of the target making you, the average is three shifts, four guys to a shift, two cars — that’s a minimum. Three shifts, so 12 agents. If it’s a really important case, you could easily double that.” That minimum translates into 24 agents in three shifts of eight agents to keep watch on a single target.


Parker, who spent much of his career tracking Soviet and Russian spies, noted, “Most surveillance subjects are not moving more than a few hours a day. So you may also have to set up an OP [observation post],” often a house or apartment overlooking the target.


Just as the French services wiretapped the cellphones of the Paris terrorists, the FBI does not limit itself to physical surveillance of a subject. “You would also have technical means,” one surveillance specialist, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “If you run 24-hour surveillance, you have telephones, both cell and land lines, MISUR [microphone surveillance] and stationery lookouts.”


Agents might also lock onto the GPS of the suspect’s car, to see where he or she is going. In one high-profile espionage case, the FBI placed radio receivers at fixed points around the Washington area and was also able to plant an electronic device in the suspect’s car. When the target car passed by one of the receivers, the time and location were recorded. This setup was similar to the E-ZPass system, which is used by commuters to breeze through toll plazas without stopping.


With so much manpower required to monitor just one suspect, FBI supervisors often resist mounting a 24/7 surveillance. It takes away agents who might be working other cases. A smaller field office might not have enough agents.


http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/02/22/fighting-terror-the-complex-factors-in-deciding-who-to-watch/


http://www.alipac.us/f9/orlando-terr...tracts-333601/