February 12, 2016 Original publish date.
February 13, 2016 update.
April 1, 2020 security update.
Dear FBI – Is this a Concern?
original article written by Net Advisor™
New York, New York. So I was checking out twitter and casually reading some of the posts and adding new people to follow then I came across someone’s account who had a follower that flagged my attention.
The profile on twitter appears to be a Middle-Eastern man holding a rifle or shotgun. Nothing illegal here so far. With some help, I attempted to translate some of the language which according to Google, appears to be Arabic.
Curious as a closet investigator, where I research and write among various subjects including international security (terrorism issues) and foreign policy I decided to check this guy out.
Maybe it’s no big deal, but then again I don’t work for the FBI and they would have the means to really investigate this further. But what raised further concern was this:
[1] Twitter user known as “@iphoney_as” had a profile showing himself with a rifle or shotgun (See twitter profile image capture 2016-02-12 PDF, lower left corner) (original source)(enlarged avatar below).
[2] The said user profile had some gruesome graphic photos of bodies from some violent attacks, possible from explosives in a war-like scenario, and at least one beheading. It would appear that the user has some interest or promoting statements regarding violent extremism. Maybe he is against it, maybe it’s extremism propaganda, I don’t have all the tools here to make that determination.
[3] Then I noticed a tweet dated April 30, 2015, showing a map of the New York subway in response to another tweet (also written in Arabic). The translation didn’t clearly convert to English unless it was intentionally coded that way to mean something else, or there was a translation fail. This in itself is not a crime, just pieces of a puzzle thus far.
[4] Next, I noticed another tweet with a caption and photo of the Statue of Liberty in New York. Another twitter user @Haunted2012 (PDF capture) was copied on the message. This could be nothing, but it adds to the puzzle.
[5] Given the FBI’s concerns (PDF) regarding “violent extremism” and looking at the collective content showing an armed middle-eastern man, with violent extremism photos, at least one-beheading photo, together with map of New York Subway, a photo of the Statue of Liberty where law-enforcement has prior terror-target concerns, warranted further inquiry.
So I copied (PDF) several of the tweets in question because I know people delete things on Twitter. What they don’t know is deleting things on-line does not mean the content is gone forever as shown in the captures linked hereto.
[6] So sent the FBI and major media the tweet in question and asked is this a concern?
[7] Note, I did NOT alert the Twitter user in question, but someone else saw the tweet and must have alerted “@iphoney_as.” How do I know this?
[8] Within FOUR minutes of the tweet to the feds and the media I get a direct response from @iphoney_as saying, “You are a man too stupid” (twitter capture below).
Twitter user “@iphoney_as” then alerted this guy (@ahmadoovich)(PDF twitter profile capture) for some reason. I’ve been called worse and threatened by radical liberals in the media and by another extremist, so not taken back by this comment.
[9] Before I could make any reply, the twitter user in question quickly deleted the tweet I sent to the FBI. This raised further concern that the user is now covering up his tracks. I then updated the FEDs and the media that I have copies of the user’s deleted tweets and files.
[10] The time I was done with this trail, I noticed that I was now “blocked” (ways around that BTW), by the twitter user in question. But what I also noticed is that the guy also deleted his original (apparent) photo with the firearm, and replaced the avatar with some old guy (isolated image in .jpg). Below twitter user’s new avatar immediately after report to feds and the media.
So if this user had nothing to hide, why would he delete one or more tweets in question that had been there since 2015, then proceeded to delete his avatar photo holding a gun, then proceeded to replace his avatar with a benign photo of someone else (unable to ID new photo at this time)? And ALL of this behavior occurred only after the account was flagged?
A further review and it may be nothing, but behavior tells the story. We found this article (PDF) (translated here HTML or PDF) that discusses a guy named Osama Najar who was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison and fined a half-a-million dirhams [roughly USD$136,239 (as of our post date)] for “terrorism” ties against the state in UAE. The twitter user in question commented on the article and such tweet was posted by the publisher of the article. Keep in mind that free press doesn’t exist in this region of the world, and anything against the state could be deemed threatening.
This may be nothing, and the person(s) in question may be entirely innocent, and nothing hereto implies any wrongdoing. The behavioral response in actively covering up and altering an identity, blocking further (normal) review however raises questions that should be vetted by proper jurisdictions.
This situation reminds me of a metaphor I remember hearing:
“The light is afraid of the dark.”
Meaning, when it is dark, and you turn on the lights, everything is clear and apparent. There is nothing to hide at that point, nothing to fear (psychology). All I did here is turn on the lights. Now it’s time to see what is apparent.
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About the author:
Net Advisor™ studied U.S. Intelligence agencies and related history as a senior project at USC. Net Advisor™ analyzed and interpreted speeches, reports, studied behavioral patterns of terrorists, their belief systems and from other players. Wrote extensive reports including one titled, “Challenges of International Terrorism to the U.S. Intelligence Agencies.” Report was inspired by William Casey, a former Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). Prior to this developed military strategy games from elementary school to adult. Detailed bio. For immediate inquiries, best send tweet to @netadvisor to advise check email you may send. Will eventually check email.
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