By the turn of the 21 century, the FBI believed it had put the dark legacy of J. Edgar Hoover behind it—a legacy that included the illegal surveillance of anti-war groups, civil rights organizations, and the Black Panther Party. But…
Category: terrorism
2022
Category: Federal Criminal Law | SCOTUS | terrorism
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, America was besieged with fear, suspicion, and hostility towards Muslims and anyone associated with the Islamic faith. Not even the nation’s First…
2022
Category: Conspiracy | Federal Criminal Law | terrorism
The Oath Keepers, an extremist anti-American government group, was founded in 2009 by a Plano, Texas resident named Elmer Stewart Rhodes. The Oath Keepers are primarily made up of former military and law enforcement personnel who took oaths to forever…
2021
The Twin Towers terror attacks on September 11, 2001, changed America’s Center Intelligence Agency (CIA) forever. The “agency,” especially during the height of the Cold War and its waning years, has a sordid history of either engaging in or supporting …
2019
Category: Federal Criminal Law | terrorism
The USA Patriot Act was signed into law by former President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001—some 45 days after the tragic 9/11 Twin Tower attacks. At the time, the U.S. Justice Department said the Patriot Act “simply expanded…
2019
Category: Police Misconduct | terrorism
In the wake of 9/11, the federal government’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies, particularly the FBI, have targeted Muslim communities for “domestic surveillance” as likely hotbeds for terrorism, generally without any suspicion that a crime has occurred or is likely…
2019
Hate is a cultural and social disease. Its origin lies deep in ancient times when religion and war were the primary sources of power—the means to secure power and hold it until a greater hatred emerged to destroy it. Nationalistic…
2018
Category: Criminal Justice Reform | terrorism
Omar Mateen’s shooting rampage at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida on September 14, 2016 left 49 people dead and another 53 seriously injured. The New York Times called the mass shooting “the worst terrorist attack on American soil since…
2018
Category: Federal Criminal Law | terrorism
It has been said that a civilized society can be measured by its criminal justice system, especially how it treats the worst of its lot.
Since September 11, 2001, terrorists, whether foreign-born or domestic-reared, have been considered by the…
2018
Category: Federal Criminal Law | terrorism
In 2016, federal law enforcement officials estimated that roughly 250 Americans had tried to join the terrorist group ISIS—most of whom never left the United States.
One of those who left the country to join ISIS was Wisconsin native…