SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Why Did FBI's Multiple Informants Fail to Catch Omar Mateen in a Sting?
One detail of the FBI's 2013 investigation into Omar Mateen that seems to be getting inadequate attention is that they used multiple informants with him, per Jim Comey's press conference on Monday:
Jun 15, 2016
One detail of the FBI's 2013 investigation into Omar Mateen that seems to be getting inadequate attention is that they used multiple informants with him, per Jim Comey's press conference on Monday:
Our investigation involved introducing confidential sources to him, recording conversations with him, following him, reviewing transactional records from his communications, and searching all government holdings for any possible connections, any possible derogatory information. We then interviewed him twice. [my emphasis]
Normally, when the FBI identifies a Muslim mouthing off about joining ISIS, they throw one or more informants at him, develop his trust, then have him press a button or buy a plane ticket to Syria, which they use to arrest the guy.
That didn't happen here. While they did record the conversations between these informants and Mateen, they never got him to do something they could arrest him for.
And I suspect we won't get answers why they didn't, though it seems an absolutely critical question for assessing how the FBI investigates terrorism. If FBI's chosen method of using informants only works with the dopes and not the real threats, all it does is juice the FBI's prosecution numbers, without keeping us safe. Alternately, it's possible FBI assumes certain things about a potential "Islamic" threat, which turned out to be wrong in this case.
I can think of several possible reasons why FBI's informants might not have worked the way they normally do (these are speculative):
- Mateen was just not serious about terrorism in 2013, but something since then (perhaps the decline in his marriage, perhaps the US launching yet another war against Muslims in the Middle East) led him to embrace it in 2016
- Mateen, who went to cop school, recognized the informants for what they were
- The prominent reporting on FBI's investigations into Ibragim Todashev and their infiltration of his circle of friends (the FBI's investigation would have lasted from July 2013 until May 2014) made Mateen vigilant enough to resist the informants' appeals
- The informants tried to entice Mateen via Islamic ideology and not homophobic self-hatred (that is, they used the wrong trigger)
- The process of being investigated -- and interviewed 3 times -- actually further pissed off Mateen, leading him closer to violence
Again, these are all speculative. We can't know without more detail why the FBI's typical use of informants failed this time.
But we deserve answers to the question, because if the Muslim community is going to be riddled with informants, they had better be serving some purpose other than selective surveillance of a minority group.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 EmptyWheel.net
Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler is a journalist who writes the blog Emptywheel. She publishes at various outlets including the Guardian, Salon and the Progressive. Wheeler won the 2009 the Hillman Award for blog journalism.
One detail of the FBI's 2013 investigation into Omar Mateen that seems to be getting inadequate attention is that they used multiple informants with him, per Jim Comey's press conference on Monday:
Our investigation involved introducing confidential sources to him, recording conversations with him, following him, reviewing transactional records from his communications, and searching all government holdings for any possible connections, any possible derogatory information. We then interviewed him twice. [my emphasis]
Normally, when the FBI identifies a Muslim mouthing off about joining ISIS, they throw one or more informants at him, develop his trust, then have him press a button or buy a plane ticket to Syria, which they use to arrest the guy.
That didn't happen here. While they did record the conversations between these informants and Mateen, they never got him to do something they could arrest him for.
And I suspect we won't get answers why they didn't, though it seems an absolutely critical question for assessing how the FBI investigates terrorism. If FBI's chosen method of using informants only works with the dopes and not the real threats, all it does is juice the FBI's prosecution numbers, without keeping us safe. Alternately, it's possible FBI assumes certain things about a potential "Islamic" threat, which turned out to be wrong in this case.
I can think of several possible reasons why FBI's informants might not have worked the way they normally do (these are speculative):
- Mateen was just not serious about terrorism in 2013, but something since then (perhaps the decline in his marriage, perhaps the US launching yet another war against Muslims in the Middle East) led him to embrace it in 2016
- Mateen, who went to cop school, recognized the informants for what they were
- The prominent reporting on FBI's investigations into Ibragim Todashev and their infiltration of his circle of friends (the FBI's investigation would have lasted from July 2013 until May 2014) made Mateen vigilant enough to resist the informants' appeals
- The informants tried to entice Mateen via Islamic ideology and not homophobic self-hatred (that is, they used the wrong trigger)
- The process of being investigated -- and interviewed 3 times -- actually further pissed off Mateen, leading him closer to violence
Again, these are all speculative. We can't know without more detail why the FBI's typical use of informants failed this time.
But we deserve answers to the question, because if the Muslim community is going to be riddled with informants, they had better be serving some purpose other than selective surveillance of a minority group.
Marcy Wheeler
Marcy Wheeler is a journalist who writes the blog Emptywheel. She publishes at various outlets including the Guardian, Salon and the Progressive. Wheeler won the 2009 the Hillman Award for blog journalism.
One detail of the FBI's 2013 investigation into Omar Mateen that seems to be getting inadequate attention is that they used multiple informants with him, per Jim Comey's press conference on Monday:
Our investigation involved introducing confidential sources to him, recording conversations with him, following him, reviewing transactional records from his communications, and searching all government holdings for any possible connections, any possible derogatory information. We then interviewed him twice. [my emphasis]
Normally, when the FBI identifies a Muslim mouthing off about joining ISIS, they throw one or more informants at him, develop his trust, then have him press a button or buy a plane ticket to Syria, which they use to arrest the guy.
That didn't happen here. While they did record the conversations between these informants and Mateen, they never got him to do something they could arrest him for.
And I suspect we won't get answers why they didn't, though it seems an absolutely critical question for assessing how the FBI investigates terrorism. If FBI's chosen method of using informants only works with the dopes and not the real threats, all it does is juice the FBI's prosecution numbers, without keeping us safe. Alternately, it's possible FBI assumes certain things about a potential "Islamic" threat, which turned out to be wrong in this case.
I can think of several possible reasons why FBI's informants might not have worked the way they normally do (these are speculative):
- Mateen was just not serious about terrorism in 2013, but something since then (perhaps the decline in his marriage, perhaps the US launching yet another war against Muslims in the Middle East) led him to embrace it in 2016
- Mateen, who went to cop school, recognized the informants for what they were
- The prominent reporting on FBI's investigations into Ibragim Todashev and their infiltration of his circle of friends (the FBI's investigation would have lasted from July 2013 until May 2014) made Mateen vigilant enough to resist the informants' appeals
- The informants tried to entice Mateen via Islamic ideology and not homophobic self-hatred (that is, they used the wrong trigger)
- The process of being investigated -- and interviewed 3 times -- actually further pissed off Mateen, leading him closer to violence
Again, these are all speculative. We can't know without more detail why the FBI's typical use of informants failed this time.
But we deserve answers to the question, because if the Muslim community is going to be riddled with informants, they had better be serving some purpose other than selective surveillance of a minority group.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.