Academic

Yet another FBI bomb sting operation, this time in Maryland

By Tung Yin

High-profile FBI sting operations in which allegedly would-be terrorists are snared by undercover operatives might have some marginal deterrent effect on other would-be terrorists, but that deterrent effect is obviously nowhere near absolute.  From Maryland comes another story whose allegations are pretty similar to those in the Portland bomb sting case:

According to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Baltimore, Martinez wanted to fight jihad in the United States and specifically targeted the U.S. military because they were killing Muslims overseas.

He came to the FBI's attention through public postings on his Facebook page, the affidavit said.

He posted statements calling for violence to stop the oppression of Muslims. On Oct. 8, a person identified as a confidential source told the FBI about the postings.

That began a series of recorded conversations that would eventually include an undercover FBI agent whom Martinez thought was from Afghanistan and would help him make a vehicle bomb and teach him how to detonate it.

Maybe the FBI needs a Facebook page in which to announce its exploits, to deter people who would post messages about terrorism on Facebook.

Wait!  It does!  And there's a Nov. 28 entry with a link to the press release about the Mohamud case!

Full post as published by The Yin Blog on December 08, 2010 (boomark / email).