Tamerlan Tsarnaev's Immigration Records Reveal FBI Bombshell
Important New Info on Boston Marathon Bombing
Tamerlan Tsarnaev Photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from Dave Newman / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
WhoWhatWhy has discovered that the FBI secretly flagged at least one of the "Boston Marathon bombers" as a terrorist threat in his immigration records, despite publicly denying it had done so.
This designation existed right up to the time the bombs went off at Boylston St. on April 15, 2013.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev's heavily redacted immigration records, known as an A-file (alien file), were released in February under the Freedom of Information Act and posted online by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). FOIA has a "frequently requested record" provision where multiple request for the same record triggers a "reading room" (posted online) treatment of the records. WhoWhatWhy was one of those requesters.
For context, it's important to note that soon after the bombing, uncomfortable questions were raised by WhoWhatWhy when it became clear the FBI had long been aware of Tsarnaev. Even some of the mainstream outlets, which almost uniformly have accepted the government's version of events, couldn't ignore this reality.
The Bureau steadfastly maintains that it determined the elder Tsarnaev (who died in an altercation with police three days after the bombing) was not any kind of a national security threat. It also denies ever having asked him to be an informant.
And yet a shadowy program used by the feds to keep individuals deemed a "national security concern" from obtaining citizenship looks like the reason Tsarnaev's naturalization application was held up — to the very moment of his death. This program is called the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (CARRP).
Significantly, CARRP is also used to manipulate foreign nationals (mostly Muslims) to do the FBI's bidding by — ironically — flagging them as a "national security concern," according to an extensive ACLU investigation into the program.
Reeled in by CARRP?
So, what is the significance of holding Tsarnaev's naturalization application under CARRP?
It would mean that, by definition, the FBI had not ruled out whether Tsarnaev was a "Known or Suspected Terrorist" (KST) by the time of the bombing.
A KST is a designation under CARRP automatically given to anyone listed on the terrorist "watch list," which Tsarnaev most certainly was. A lower threat level, or "non-Known or Suspected Terrorist" (non-KST), can also be labeled a "national security concern" if certain "indicators" are present.
There's also a good possibility that the FBI wasn't worried about him at all. Instead a "false" or trumped up KST designation and subsequent delay was used as leverage to get Tsarnaev to play some "informant" role. In FBI parlance, the word "informant" encompasses a wide range of roles — both official and unofficial — that an individual might be asked to perform.
The FBI, as a matter of policy, does not confirm or deny whether an applicant has been subjected to CARRP. And the Bureau almost never confirms or denies whether an individual was asked to become an informant.
Notably, however, the latter policy was ignored when it became patently obvious to observers that Tsarnaev fit the archetypal informant profile: young male Muslim, native speaker from a geopolitically important area, citizenship applicant, with minor legal troubles (which can provide even more leverage over a potential recruit). So, the FBI broke its own policy by explicitly denying they ever pushed him to be an informant.
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There are two key documents in Tsarnaev's A-file.
One is a "Naturalization Applications Routing Slip." This is an internal routing sheet used to track the movement of files through USCIS.
The other is a copy of an e-mail from USCIS's Fraud Detection & National Security (FDNS) Directorate instructing an Immigration Services Officer. It instructs the officer to "de-schedule and place in suspense" Tsarnaev's naturalization application.
Both documents use the CARRP acronym. Taken together, it's clear that Tsarnaev's application was routed through FDNS which is where it goes when CARRP is in effect.
CARRP Routing Slip, Tamerlan Tsarnaev
Former FBI Special Agent Mike German told WhoWhatWhy that "the CARRP references in the files are pretty good evidence that CARRP played a role in delaying action on his application."
There's another red flag. Despite completing all the requirements and passing his citizenship test January 23, 2013, Tsarnaev's naturalization approval was put on hold. According to the ACLU, that is a solid indicator an individual has been "CARRP'd."
The author of ACLU's report on CARRP, attorney Jennie Pasquarella, told WhoWhatWhy: "That is typical in CARRP cases." Although the mandated interview and test are conducted, the agency only notifies the applicant that it "cannot make a decision at this time." That is because the policy forbids USCIS to grant citizenship — even to applicants who are otherwise "statutorily eligible" — as long as he or she has been flagged with the catchall "national security concern" by the FBI. FDNS Email, Tamerlan Tsarnaev
FDNS Email Photo credit: USCIS.gov
Ostensibly, CARRP is run by USCIS. In reality, the program has turned the decision to grant or deny citizenship, that is, "adjudication," over to the FBI. In such cases, USCIS officers have to follow FBI direction on whether to deny, approve, or "hold in abeyance (potentially indefinitely)" an application, according to Pasquarella's detailed report.
Another red flag indicative of CARRP is whether "the application was denied on specious grounds that appear pretextual."
Feds Move the Goalpost.
Indeed, we now know that the "official" reason for holding up Tsarnaev's application — "waiting for records" — is false.
The Boston Globe's Maria Sacchetti, the first reporter to comb through Tsarnaev's A-file, noted that, "Earlier, a federal report [the Inspector General report on intelligence failures that allowed Tsarnaev to slip through the cracks] had said that Tsarnaev's citizenship application was delayed because the government did not have his criminal court records from the 2009 case."
Not so. As Sacchetti confirmed with Homeland Security (USCIS's parent agency), Tsarnaev had already furnished those records to his immigration officer.
In fact, they are date- and time-stamped with the same date and time as Tsarnaev’s naturalization application: September 5, 2012, at 16:19 (4:19 p.m.) — five months prior to the decision to delay.
The "official" reason for delay has now been tweaked from "waiting for records" to "pending a supervisor's review," according to what Homeland Security told Sacchetti.
This kind of "moving the goalpost" matches the type of chicanery detailed in ACLU's investigation.
The IGs who wrote the "intelligence failures" report included a footnote that complained about stonewalling by the FBI, suggesting they were either misinformed or misled about why Tsarnaev's A-file was on hold. Similarly, WhoWhatWhy wrote previously of a widespread and growing frustration in the inspector general community over stonewalling by the very agencies they are tasked with overseeing.
"They Were Controlling His Every Step"
Evidence that Tsarnaev was "CARRP'd" right up to the time of his death adds to the list of contradictions between what the Bureau says publicly about Tsarnaev — and what the record suggests was actually going on with this enigmatic young man.
(1) The Bureau denied knowing who the brothers were — until their mother came forward to report that the FBI had been in regular contact with Tamerlan and other members of the family. "They used to come [to our] home, they used to talk to me… they were controlling him, they were controlling his every step," she said in an interview with Russia Today.To sum up, the FBI maintains that after conducting its own assessment of Tamerlan, it dismissed Russia's detailed warning as being "without merit."
The FBI put out a press release later that day confirming the mother's report of previous contact.
(2) Then, having admitted it conducted a six-month long "assessment" of Tsarnaev — two years before the bombing — the FBI said the investigation was closed after it "found no link or 'nexus' to terrorism."
Contradicting that statement, both the FBI and CIA had actually put Tsarnaev's name on the terrorist "watch list," stating that he "may be armed and dangerous" and that screening him is "mandatory" if he attempts to board an airplane.
(3) The FBI initially claimed Tamerlan Tsarnaev was first brought to its attention by a March 2011 tip from the Russian government, which alleged he was an adherent "of radical Islam and that [he] was preparing to travel to Russia to join unspecified 'bandit underground groups' in Dagestan and Chechnya."
And yet, two months after the bombing FBI director Robert Mueller admitted in Congressional testimony that Tsarnaev's name was known to the FBI before Russia's 2011 warning. Mueller testified that Tamerlan's name came up in connection with other individuals under investigation. (Please see WhoWhatWhy's earlier discoveries on this issue.)
Six months later, however, Tamerlan did just what the Russians said he would do.
He flew to Dagestan by way of Moscow and made theatrical attempts to hook up with underground bandit groups — attempts that may have been real, or contrived as part of some international "sting" operation for which Tsarnaev may have been recruited. Even more problematic, neither government did anything to impede his travel, despite the flag-raising warnings about him on record.
The FBI's own trail of contradictory statements and backpedaling suggests it has something to hide about its dealings with an alleged perpetrator of a deadly terrorist attack on American soil.
In muddying the record, was the FBI merely trying to cover up its dangerous incompetence, or is there a darker secret to be "protected" from public scrutiny — a scenario in which Tamerlan operated under some kind of government cover until something went horribly wrong?
If so, this would not be the first time that a cover up was the preferred option for America’s security apparatus.
Further reading:
Serco Wins $190 Million Department of Homeland Security Contractor
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Source: Activist Post
Yet Another Person Guilty of Terrorism After Being Set Up by the FBI
February 9, 2016
In April 2015, 20-year-old John T. Booker Jr. was arrested after he attempted to build a bomb made with inert materials provided by the FBI. Booker, also known as Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, believed he was building a 1,000-pound car bomb to attack Fort Riley, Kansas.
Booker was unaware that the bomb was fake and the two men he believed were working with Daesh (ISIS) were actually FBI informants. Booker recently plead guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of government property by fire or explosion and now faces 30 years in prison.
"If this defendant had succeeded, American soldiers would have died," U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said in a statement. "The investigators and the attorneys who worked on this case were our line of defense against terrorism. They kept us safe."
However, an examination of Booker's case reveals the usual patterns we see in terror cases involving the FBI. Booker was part of the Reserve Officers" Training Corps (ROTC) program at his high school before being recruited by the U.S. Army in February 2014. Shortly after the FBI received a complaint that Booker had posted on Facebook about his intention to commit a jihadist suicide mission.
When the FBI called Booker in for an interview he admitted to enlisting the Army with plans to commit an attack against American soldiers similar to the attack committed by Major Nidal Hassan at Fort Hood, Texas. Booker claimed he was not going to kill "privates" but rather someone with power and status. So what did the FBI do with this information? They denied him entry to the military and let him go.
Rather than taking Booker into a hospital where he might get treatment for his violent fantasies the FBI began monitoring him, and in October 2014 sent in a FBI informant known as Confidential Human Source (CHS 1). Booker told CHS 1 he wanted to fight for Daesh and help bring the war home to America. CHS 1 introduced Booker to CHS 2 who he believed was a recruiter for Daesh. Booker claimed he was inspired by the man known as Jihadi Joe and wanted to carry out a suicide bomber mission using a truck bomb.
For several months CHS 1 and 2 worked with Booker in planning out this fake bombing. They drove him to nearby military airfields and bases to help him film propaganda videos where he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the purported leader of Daesh. In March 2015, CHS 1 told Booker he had been selected for a suicide mission. CHS 1 helped Booker acquire all the components he would need to make an improvised explosive device (IED).
On April 8, 2015, the components were moved to a second storage unit where CHS 2 was waiting. Booker circled potential targets on a map of Fort Riley and filmed another propaganda video in front of the materials that he believed were explosive. On April 10, 2015, Booker met with CHS 1 and 2 in a van that supposedly contained the IED. After driving to a gate that he believed would allow him to enter the base undetected, Booker was arrested while connecting the final pieces of the fake bomb.
One has to ask if Booker would have ever had the means to play terrorist and live out his deranged fantasies without the help of the FBI. We also must ask what would have happened if the FBI had intervened in the interest of Booker's mental health rather than pursuing another conviction? Unfortunately, what ever really happened between Booker and the informants will likely never be made public due to the agreements of the plea deal.
According to court documents,
The defendant waives all rights, whether asserted directly or by a representative, to request or receive from any department or agency of the United States any records pertaining to the investigation or prosecution of this case, including, without limitation, any records that may be sought under the Freedom of Information Act.Despite the secrecy, in recent years the FBI has caught much flak for their role in entrapment and the outright creation of so-called terrorists. A 2011 report by Mother Jones and the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California-Berkley has shown that the FBI infiltrates communities where they suspect individuals who are "terrorist minded" to be engaging with others. In this program, the agents are sent into communities to converse and find suspects that could possibly carry out "lone wolf" attacks. The agents then set about encouraging them to plan an attack.
The FBI will provide the funds, the weapons, the supposed connections and the plan, only later to arrest the suspects they strung along and call them terrorists. The report also states that of the over 500 terrorism-related cases, almost half involved the use of informants. Many of these worked for the FBI in exchange for money or to escape their own criminal charges.
The actions of the FBI have even prompted The New York Times to comment on the topic. In an article entitled, "Terrorist Plots, Hatched by the F.B.I.", Writer David Shipler asked:
This is legal, but is it legitimate? Without the F.B.I., would the culprits commit violence on their own? Is cultivating potential terrorists the best use of the manpower designed to find the real ones? Judging by their official answers, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department are sure of themselves — too sure, perhaps.One of the most well-known cases of FBI entrapment involves the former Texas-based activist and current FBI informant as well as Brandon Darby, an editor at Breitbart Texas. Darby's story has been covered extensively in articles and in two documentaries, Informant and Better This World, which detail his role helping the FBI arrest young activists David McKay and Bradley Crowder during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.
Darby was a prominent activist around the Austin community and helped in the early days of the Common Ground Collective's relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Exact details as to when Darby became an informant for the FBI are murky, but we know that by early 2007 he had begun providing the bureau with details on possible acts of violence.
McKay and Crowder were both from the west Texas oil town of Midland and had no protest experience prior to the 2008 Republican National Convention. Upon meeting Darby at a planning meeting for the RNC, the pair said they were encouraged to do more than sit and talk – particularly as Darby told them he wanted to “shut the fucker down.” A plan developed to create makeshift shields for use during the protests. However, upon arrival in St. Paul, Minn., the group’s trailer was raided and the shields taken by police. Shortly after, McKay and Crowder decided to buy supplies to make Molotov cocktails.
But the next morning the pair decided against using the Molotovs and left them behind, stored in a basement. Darby and McKay reportedly discussed throwing the firebombs in a police parking lot, but McKay decided against, texting Darby, "I'm just not feeling the vibe on the street," and instead he went to bed. After Darby repeatedly texted the sleeping McKay, police raided his room and arrested him at 5 a.m., only hours before he was scheduled to fly home.
"The reality is, when we woke up the next day, neither one of us wanted to use them,” Crowder told Mother Jones. Crowder and McKay were both eventually convicted for making Molotov cocktails, and received two-year and four-year jail terms, respectively. (Both men have served their time and been released.) As word of their arrests began to spread, so did suspicion that Darby was an informant. Only a small group of people were aware of the Molotov plan, and Darby became a prime suspect. Two months later, Darby admitted his involvement with the feds. "The simple truth," he wrote on Indymedia.org, "is that I have chosen to work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Darby has since gone on to become a celebrated hero to some and a traitor to many more. His case, however, isn’t the first time the FBI has used an informant within activist groups to make arrests.
We also have the case of the Cleveland 5. In October 2011, the FBI sent an unnamed informant, known as a confidential human source, or CHS, to infiltrate Occupy Cleveland in hopes of finding potential "terrorists." The FBI sent in a career criminal convicted of at least six charges, including robbery, to investigate the Occupy group and "potential criminal activity and threats involving anarchists who would be attending." The CHS found five men with anti-government sentiments and began encouraging them to consider various acts of terrorism.
Under the encouragement of the CHS the group plotted to blow up a bridge in Ohio on April 30, 2012. The CHS reportedly took the men from discussing knocking down bank signs to discussing buying C4 explosives, promising them fake license plates and alibis to soothe their fears of being arrested and sent to Guantanamo. The CHS repeatedly pressed the men to consider buying the explosives in the weeks leading up to the arrest. One of the 5, Connor Stevens, was actually recorded rejecting violent tactics, saying, "It's actually harder to be non-violent than it is to do stuff like that."
Eventually, though, the group was persuaded to buy explosives and upon attempting to make use of the dummy explosives, which had been provided by another FBI informant, they were arrested. The men received sentences ranging from six to 11 years.
What are your thoughts? Is the U.S. government "creating" terrorists to justify the continuation of the War on Terror?
Derrick Broze is an investigative journalist and liberty activist. He is a news editor for ActivistPost.com and the founder of the TheConsciousResistance.com. Follow him on Twitter.
This article may be freely reposted in part or in full with author attribution and source link.
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The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism - Expert Witness Radio
Further discovery:
FBI is Enrolling Church Leaders, Social Workers and Community Leaders to Spy on You
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