A Kansas man arrested and charged Friday morning for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State was under surveillance by the FBI last year when he checked himself into a mental institution and was not regarded as an immediate threat, according to a document obtained by The Intercept.
In fact, the U.S. Army had approved the new recruit for a Secret clearance.
John T. Booker Jr., who also goes by the name Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, was arrested Friday and charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State, plotting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and planning to destroy property with an explosive.
Yet in March 2014, Booker was already being watched by the FBI, who determined he had no ability to carry out an attack, according to a “Situational Information Report” issued last year by the FBI’s Kansas City division. Booker had in Feb. 2014 signed up to join the U.S. Army and had even been approved for a security clearance, the FBI document states.
Booker’s plans to join the Army were derailed the next month by his deteriorating mental health.
“BOOKER voluntarily checked himself into a mental health facility for evaluation on 26 March 2014; Kansas City Division is in contact with the facility and will be apprised if BOOKER is deemed healthy enough to be released. BOOKER has not been charged with a crime at present. BOOKER does not have access to a vehicle or other form of transportation at this time, nor is there evidence he possess firearms,” the report, issued March 30, 2014, stated.
What changed in the following year was not necessarily Booker’s mental state, but the introduction of two FBI informants into his life.
It is unclear when Booker was released from the mental health institution, but in Oct. 2014 he met the first of two FBI informants. By the spring of 2015, Booker had been introduced to the second informant — and, according to the indictment unsealed Friday, the two informants provided the 20-year-old with the materials and support that led to his arrest on Friday on charges stemming from his alleged plans to carry out an attack against Fort Riley in support of the Islamic State.
There were early warning signs of Booker’s interest in terrorism — and his mental instability. In the months prior to signing up for the U.S. Army — and being granted a secret-level clearance — Booker has posted a series of comments on social media, saying he wanted to “wage jihad” against America.
“I wanna be a martyr (shaheed)!!! YA, brothers and sisters,” Booker said in a comment on YouTube five months before enlisting in the military.
Around the same time, months before being approved for a security clearance, Booker posted in the comments section of a YouTube video showing graphic video of American soldiers under fire in Iraq in 2008. “I’m am Muslim. Muslims had no business in Iraq,” Booker wrote.
On March 9, a month after he enlisted at the Kansas City recruiting station, Booker posted a series of photos of Osama bin Laden holding various weapons. “Allahu Akbar J Sheikh Osama bin Laden and his army,” reads a post by one photo.
On March 15, a post on Facebook expressed Booker’s desire to die for his beliefs. “I want to be with my lord so bad that I cry but I will miss you guys I am not going to lie,” he wrote.
Those comments, and the initial FBI warning, were first written about by this reporter for FoxNews.com. An FBI spokesperson attempted to downplay the threat at the time.
“We have interviewed this individual,” the spokeswoman told this reporter at the time. “There is no imminent threat to public safety, nor should the public be concerned that this threat exists from an individual at large.”
Photo: FBI
I’m not going to get into medical illness or legal issue I just want to state some facts as I have read them. This young man made threats against our country and the men and women who protect this country. This man should be on a list, never allowed to enlist in military. I believe that people who can be easily controlled by others are dangerous to the country. I would rather the FBI give him a fake bomb to see if he seriously a threat then to let ISIS give him a real bomb that kills 1 or 1000’s of people. The many innocent people have been killed by people with mental illness, metal illness should not give someone the right to threaten our country and the service members protecting it.
The cost of surveillance equipment has plummeted. Luring undercover agents into being recorded in the act of entrapment themselves will be pretty easy for whoever decides to do it first.
The people who actually attacked us were either part of the White House (The evidence of an inside job is pretty substantial and has many reputable adherents) or from Saudi Arabia and UAE. No Pakistanis, no Afgahnis, no Iraqis . So when you say service members are protecting the US, that is a very dubious proposal. They may in fact be the majority of people you refer to as easily controlled.
The US is now desperate to show some kind of threat from domestic Islamic terrorists even though the police commit far more actual violent crimes. Every terror case in theis country involves FBI entrapment. Get real Vet.
This case has so many holes that even the most inured to the propaganda machine should wake up and ask some basic questions, about the time line for instance. I know this isn’t the only place that people come to for news and to express their opinions, so speak up people. When this story was on Yahoo News, the only comment that didn’t want this guy shot for treason or locked up for the rest of his life, was my comment telling people to be sure to get all the facts first and one other comment that wondered about the timeline but still wanted the guy hung. The FBI should be ashamed, picking on the mentally unstable and barely adult possible suspects. How many of you at 20 years old had a good grasp of what was really going on in the world? You are despicable, FBI.
Almost all other places make it impossible to comment withoit crap like Disqus or LiveFyre or homebuilt stuff all of which are in themselves surveillance (and don’t get me started or tracking, analytics, and cookies). The net is probably not the best place to argue against surveilling the net. For one thing, it is surveilled. For another, it seems to reduce the pressure in most people to act. No million man marches about surveillance but oh-so-many “petitions” and email campaigns with cardboard cutout text.
Let us now review Journalism 101, class. The PBS NewsHour for Friday, April 10:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/news-wrap-leaders-u-s-cuba-meet-first-time-decades/
That’s it — and no parody. Typical sample, I imagine, of how this story comes out the teletype at the other end. The NewsHour didn’t elaborate in its Friday news discussion. Pity. They could bring insight to these events.
Let us now review basic criminal law, shall we, class? To have a crime, you must show that the accused had criminal intent — mens rea — and the means to act or attempt to act the crime — actus reus. According to this fact pattern, the suspect was incapable of coherent intent, and didn’t have the wherewithal to act until “the two informants provided the 20-year-old with the materials and support that led to his arrest,” according to the article.
No marbles, no toys = no crime.
What’s that? Yes, I should say the informants probably should have been arrested. Their handlers? Wellll ….
If you’re a young Muslim-American male between the ages of 20 and 35 with a history of mental illness, Uncle Sam needs you. Obama apparently is not willing to entertain the possibility that his FBI is doing to young Muslim men what law enforcement agencies throughout the country are doing to Black men.
http://heavyeditorial.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/linked1.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780
“John Thomas Booker Jr. graduated from Topeka West High School in 2012. A Topeka Capital Journal article from December 2011, details a group of Topeka West Army Jr. ROTC cadets who were volunteering for a children-in-need program. A Cadet Master Sgt. John Thomas Booker Jr. told the paper how much he enjoyed helping the less fortunate saying “I can’t have a good Christmas if they don’t.””
I only found a picture at the link that you posted, but was able to find the quote here: http://heavy.com/news/2015/04/john-t-booker-5-fast-facts-you-need-to-know/
“There is no imminent threat to public safety, nor should the public be concerned that this threat exists from an individual at large.” That is, until we at the FBI come up with another B-movie “Sting” to scare the public with.
Also from the Stars and Stripes article:
The FBI-appointed “counselor” imam: “…said he expressed concerns to the FBI about allowing Booker to move freely in the community after their first encounter.
Hazim said he later heard that two others were involved in a bombing plot with Booker. He said the FBI told him they were undercover FBI agents and that the sting was arranged to get Booker “off the streets.”
“I think the two FBI agents set him up, because they felt at that point someone else might have done the same thing and put a real bomb in his hands,” Hazim said.
“He said he has come to the conclusion that the sting was the right thing to do. He said Booker admitted to him on Tuesday that he had stopped taking his medication because he didn’t like the way it made him feel and it was expensive.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas declined to comment on Hazim’s remarks.”
So, again, he was a danger to others (and therefore needed to be admitted to a mental health facility) AND he had stopped taking his meds.
The things that are transpiring in this country of ours — many of which have yet to come to light — will outrage, when known.
If someone who is bipolar stops taking his meds and proves that he is a danger to others, then yes, he needs to be hospitalized – not get set up by the FBI.
I think TI should do some more digging on this kid’s background. I’d also be interested to know just how far back this FBI monitoring goes, as well as the kid’s mental condition before he was ever put under surveillance. Did he have a history of mood swings? Or was this all very sudden?
Also, thanks for the link, anonymous.
You’re very welcome, dreamer.
I agree that someone needs to do a whole lot of digging to understand what really happened to this young man.
You said: “I’d also be interested to know just how far back this FBI monitoring goes, as well as the kid’s mental condition before he was ever put under surveillance. Did he have a history of mood swings? Or was this all very sudden?”
Excellent points/questions. And we need answers to all of them.
According to the following article, he was “picked on” (bullied?) a bit, as a kid.
http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/Classmate-Describes-John-T-Booker-As-Quiet-But-Strange-299370051.htmld
What I know for a fact is that our government has a rich history of ruining good people — people who, if left alone (or treated appropriately), would be just fine.
Interesting. I’m curious about how he went from being a quiet guy who enjoyed helping people at Christmastime to being someone who wanted nothing more than to wage Jihad. Was it mental illness, or is there more to this story?
“What I know for a fact is that our government has a rich history of ruining good people — people who, if left alone (or treated appropriately), would be just fine.”
It sure does. Red Squads, McCarthyism, COINTELPRO, gang stalking… it doesn’t ever seem to go away, does it?
Thanks again for sharing these links.
People who suffer from bipolar disorder feel happy sometimes, and sad other times. Fortunately, the condition can be treated with drugs which leave the person feeling confused all the time, and thus able to function normally in society. So it really isn’t necessary for them to be hospitalized.
Or run for president. It’s better not to unnecessarily delimit the options available.
“People who suffer from bipolar disorder feel happy sometimes, and sad other times. Fortunately, the condition can be treated with drugs which leave the person feeling confused all the time, and thus able to function normally in society. So it really isn’t necessary for them to be hospitalized.”
A gross oversimplification, as you know, of course. In this particular case, he was quite possibly a danger to others, and did, in fact, need inpatient treatment, apparently.
http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/Classmate-Describes-John-T-Booker-As-Quiet-But-Strange-299370051.html
So one of his classmates said he took an interest in history classes. That may be deeply troubling, but it is a leap to conclude he needed inpatient treatment, even by the less than rigorous standards of internet diagnosis.
You, BM: “People who suffer from bipolar disorder feel happy sometimes, and sad other times. Fortunately, the condition can be treated with drugs which leave the person feeling confused all the time, and thus able to function normally in society. So it really isn’t necessary for them to be hospitalized.”
My response: A gross oversimplification, as you know, of course. In this particular case, he was quite possibly a danger to others, and did, in fact, need inpatient treatment, apparently.
(The link was intended for “dreamer”, but I posted it with my previous comment to you, inadvertently.)
Interesting detail, IMO: Booker’s father was an Army vet — he’d served in Desert Storm.
And I’d lay money on it that this kid had been monitored for years, predating the observation and interference of which we’re aware. I love the part about setting him up for “counseling” and then getting feedback from the “counselor.” (Sarcasm) It happens more than some may realize. This will fully discourage many others from seeking what might be sorely needed help from their local imam.
He was reportedly bipolar and “counseled” at the FBI’s request:
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/cleric-man-charged-in-kansas-bomb-plot-is-mentally-ill-1.339664
“Imam Omar Hazim of the Islamic Center of Topeka told The Associated Press that two FBI agents brought Booker to him last year for counseling, hoping to turn the young man away from radical beliefs. Hazim said the agents told him that Booker suffered from bipolar disorder, characterized by unusual mood swings that can affect functioning.
“Hazim said he expressed concerns to the FBI about allowing Booker to move freely in the community after their first encounter.”
If Booker was a danger to others, he should have been hospitalized. And if the young man suffered from bipolar disorder, he needed treatment.
Could Hazim have really said anything else? If Booker had gone through with something Hazim himself would be even more closely scrutinised continuously than he probably was to “earn” the position of “counselling” (let’s call them what they are here) ‘at-risk youth’. Choosing the “counselor” when he is actively being handled as is the “subject of the investigation” is about as impartial and guaranteeing of the “right” answer as it gets.
I’d be interested in hearing how this particular imam got recruited.
The kid belonged, like so many others, with someone who could do true empathic counselling, not with someone with a vested interest in avoiding conflict with a government that considers your people a threat and you as a chosen outlier. I am areligious and this is clear to even me.
“The kid belonged, like so many others, with someone who could do true empathic counselling, not with someone with a vested interest in avoiding conflict with a government that considers your people a threat and you as a chosen outlier. I am areligious and this is clear to even me.”
Absolutely right.
What’s notable in this situation of otherwise pathetic predation by feds with too many resources and insufficient intelligence to justify their existence, is what it reveals, methodologically speaking, in manufacturing resource events and managed situations for purposes of security state propaganda.
This is low end manipulation of one easy mark. Just one step later there’s a contrived and micromanaged plot maneuvered eventually to splash across WaPo and the NYT and FOX news and NPR in an actual false-flag staged event replete with well controlled patsies ready to take the fall.
Later, cleanup assignments requiring mop-up of loose ends; vague reports of associated witnesses, family members and friends who, unfortunately, knew too much, oddly disappearing or conveniently found crushed in a car, riddled, bludgeoned or drowned will eventually surface on back page newswire reports.
Let’s not forget mention here that ISIS, the selected of branded organs for choreographed, fearsome ‘enemy’ brutality, is itself mere contrivance of these same federal and complicit allied ‘intelligence’ entities.
One might hope we’d soon catch on to this repetitious orchestration of consciousness manipulation, and by whom. One would be so wrong. Like some inane serial TV melodrama it just keeps getting renewed for another agonizing season of cultural zombification in this unending bad-dream press towards the ultimate hegemony of all consuming warfare.
Every day we awake to this nightmare process like terminal cancer patients in denial. The only good news here is that it can’t and won’t last forever.
Gotta agree with Jose – you’d think the FBI would have better things to do…
However, although I usually don’t notice or post on such things – a couple of grammatical errors really got my attention.
First from the quoted report: “nor is there evidence he possess firearms,” the report, issued March 30, 2014, stated.'” I think they used the wrong verb form there… maybe someone should have proofed that report!
And Jana – hope I’m not being too nitpicky, but I did notice: “In the months prior to signing up for the U.S. Army — and being granted a secret-level clearance — Booker has posted… shouldn’t ‘has be in past tense – ‘had’?
Again, I don’t really mean to be overly nitpicky as we all do typos and errors; and I usually take very little note of them.. but those just really struck me.
The virus can also cause ‘blockquote’ tags to become messed up.
First laugh of the day. Thanks.
Please don’t tire of yourself anytime soon, Duce, your perspectives are priceless for some of us.
One gets the feeling that these FBI terrorist traps are nothing more that an operations test, with no regard for the target or ethics.
It may be for show. Guilt, innocence or even a real crime is less important than having a witch trial. Soviet prosecutors were good at this. So are we becoming, apparently.
The witch hunts are in full swing.
The Scott movie “Enemy of the State” now seems so quaint and innocent, doesn’t it? Yet the techies supposedly went along as long as they wouldn’t be called on it by choosing to believe it was an operational exercise.
Man what I wouldn’t give for 90s tech — bugs that big or cameras that imprecise — to be “scary” now.
The army sure has some rigorous standards and thorough investigations for vetting people who will be given access to secrets, eh?
Secret classification is given to almost anyone, at least initially. The investigation was cursory (sort of like an HR dept doing a CV check) at best and often they take a while to even be performed. Basically unless you lie on the form, or actually commit something provably egregious, you’ll probably slide at least until you get through basic training. Longer if your MO (or what have you) is particularly non-pivotally interesting and requires no further clearance.
AFAIK, Booker did not have a psych diagnosis yet at the time he was initially processed/enlisted. This might have disqualified him had it been that way. Bipolar and Schizophrenia both seem to present first or initially most egregiously at around the late teens to mid-twenties. There is nothing particularly interesting about this (aside from suggesting a nominal social media check or google be performed now prior to enlisting. His statements were extraordinary in their blatancy to say the least). If anything there winds up being a shaming aspect to publicising his mental condition.
Speaking of egregious… How unbiased can a hospital visit be if the feds are telling the shrinks “we think this guy might be a terrorist”? This was barely mentioned in the article but it stood out to me because… HIPAA clearly doesn’t matter, nor does doctor-client privelege? Did this hospital get an NSL or did they just think “oh, they say he’s a terrorist so we better comply”?
Prime example of outrageous government conduct.
that’s metered rhyme:
“i want to be with my lord so bad that i cry
but i will miss you guys i’m not going to lie”
also a not-uncommon hip-hop sentiment.
i think 2pac said that.
Doesn’t the FBI have better things to do than entrap mentally unstable youngsters? Isn’t there a better way to deal with and perhaps help these people?
My thoughts, as well. One would think…
It’s reprehensible.
This forum is beyond parody – the FBI stop a bomber but you ask “haven’t they got anything better to do?” I suppose if he’d succeeded you’d be saying “this just proves our intelligence agencies are ineffective.”
The FBI manufactured a Bomber. They did not “stop” on.
Your intelligence agencies ARE ineffective. They have to resort to manufacturing mentally unstable people and putting away for terrorism instead of stopping Boston bombings or other severe cases. Carry on Peter Ball, a fine American sheep you have turned into.
the fbi creates a “bomber” from someone they themselves state had no ability to do so on their own- then claims credit for stopping him!
Methinks your “parody detector” needs alignment…
peter ball, @ 11 Apr 2015 at 7:55 am, wrote: “This forum is beyond parody”
This said by one who clearly doesn’t understand the way that things work in this country of ours. This is just an example (from this article):
“It is unclear when Booker was released from the mental health institution, but in Oct. 2014 he met the first of two FBI informants. By the spring of 2015, Booker had been introduced to the second informant — and, according to the indictment unsealed Friday, the two informants provided the 20-year-old with the materials and support that led to his arrest on Friday on charges stemming from his alleged plans to carry out an attack against Fort Riley in support of the Islamic State.”
As for not being effective? The Boston bombing is a case in point. And then there was this little fiasco:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2015/04/death_of_ibragim_todashev_why_did_the_fbi_kill_tamerlan_tsarnaev_s_friend.html
You might want to educate yourself. Start with COINTELPRO.
Perfect reply.
It’s a cost-saving measure. The government wants to crank up the paranoia machine. Careerists in the prosecutorial ranks and in the alphabet agencies are eager to benefit from the terrorist gravytrain by acquiring reputations for busting terrorists. But there are not enough real terrorists in America to satisfy the demand. If the free market were allowed to work normally, millions of dollars would be spent to import real terrorists to meet the demand. The taxpayers don’t want to pick up the bill for that. Thank goodness our leaders know how to economize. Terrorists (or facsimiles of terrorists) can be developed economically by manipulating folks who are vulnerable. The low-hanging fruit is the cheapest to pick, and all that. Think how much it would cost to persuade you to become a suicide bomber. The FBI’s entire budget for five years, right? Clearly the FBI has considered the options and has chosen someone who is easier to manipulate.
That last part is interesting given their power to destroy peoples’ lives and reputations and their unwillingness to make reparations when they are wrong (eg Olympics guy, Ames strain guy, etc (names deliberately omitted)). People are probably cheaper to radicalise if you make it your priority to try to break them first. They don’t have to have been already broken. Oddly I suspect someone up against such would have a harder time resisting doing the wrong thing than someone who had built up the psychological immune system necessary to only think about doing something. Someone who has had their norms shattered has a harder time trying to figure out how to parse the world around them without time to adjust, or context. Introduce agents/”informants” then and you probably have an easier slam dunk than these cases. Yet usually these situations end up with the ruined person killing themselves instead. Sarcastically said, the feds are missing out on inexpensive opportunities. Then again… harder to control those outcomes?
funny and sharp witted . reality has become satire
“Booker’s plans to join the Army were derailed the next month by his deteriorating mental health.”
“BOOKER voluntarily checked himself into a mental health facility for evaluation on 26 March 2014;…”
I’d like to see his psych evaluation/s. Do we know anything about his initial hospitalization?
Some of the answers many lie in those evaluations.