Just one week after heroically saving us from a terrorist it created, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has saved us from yet another criminal it created:
US authorities depict Franey as an unstable anti-government militant who deserved a closer look to see how far he might go. One of his neighbors told FBI agents that Franey said he hated the US military for not allowing him “to leave the Army” after he enlisted, and that he railed at the system for “taking away his kids.” As US Attorney Hayes put it, the Justice Department was obligated to “pursue all available leads to ensure the public was protected from any possible harm.”
But while it seems Franey talked often and enthusiastically about plotting a terrorist attack, there’s little indication he ever had any intention of following through with his threats until the FBI’s undercover agent came along. After befriending Franey, the agent took him on an eight-month ride — sometimes literally, including a road trip along the West Coast — while recording their conversations, doling out cash, furnishing him with guns, and then busting him for illegal possession of the weapons.
I once heard that the FBI used to arrest criminals it didn’t create. Does it still do that once in a while? Is that still a thing?
What happened here is the same thing that always happens. The FBI identified somebody, likely of lukewarm intelligence, who it thought was capable of being radicalized into a threat. It then assigned an agent to befriend the individual and slowly radicalize him. After radicalizing him the agent then provided him a means to perpetuate an attack. The operation then closed with the agent arresting the guy for basically being a radicalized individual in possession of a means to commit an attack.
In this case the FBI’s prey was arrested for illegally possessing weapons. Weapons which were given to him by the FBI.
These operations rely on taking a hypothetical scenario and making it a reality. The individuals they target are those the agency deems capable of being radicalized. If left to their own devices the individuals would almost certainly remain harmless. Most of these individuals are socially isolated, aren’t the brightest bulbs in the box, and are seldom go-getters. Since they’re socially isolated they’re usually desperate for friendship, which makes them vulnerable to FBI agents. Their lukewarm intelligence also makes them more susceptible to being influenced. When you combine social isolation with lukewarm intelligence you have a recipe for an individual who can be easily manipulated to do bad things. But even if they’re manipulated into doing something bad they seldom have the motivation or means. So the FBI prods these individuals into performing an attack and provides them a means with which to pull it off. Finally, with all the pieces in place the FBI arrests its creation.
What the FBI is doing is preying on vulnerable individuals, convincing them to do something bad, and then providing the means to do that bad thing. If the FBI didn’t involve itself these people would normally just fade into the annals of history. The FBI isn’t protecting us from anything with these operations. It’s creating a bad situation and then claiming to save everybody from it.
…furnishing him with guns, and then busting him for illegal possession of the weapons.
That this case will not be laughed out of court is prima facie evidence of the corruptness of American “justice”, in my opinion.
I’m surprised that word hasn’t gotten out on the street never to trust people who behave like the assholes the FBI has got running around. But, as you say, the people ensnared are pretty dim.