FBI Goes Trumpian, Hypes Imaginary Terrorism Threat as Fake News
By William Boardman, Reader Supported News
05 July 18
"Protecting our citizens and our nation remains the Justice Department's top
priority," U.S. Attorney [Justin] Herdman said. "This defendant plotted and
scouted locations in downtown Cleveland for an attack on July 4th, when he
knew it would be packed with people celebrating our nation's birthday. We
will continue to do all we can to identify, arrest and prosecute those
threats while working to keep our communities safe and secure."
FBI press release, July 2, 2018
Well, that sounds like pretty good news, doesn't it? The supposed July 4th
attack sounds like it could have been horrendous, right? And your Justice
Department saved us all yet again, right? That must be why the Justice
Department headlined its press release:
Ohio Man Arrested for Attempting to Assist a Foreign Terrorist Organization
With Homeland Attack Plot
Actually, no, that's not quite what happened. This is fundamentally a big
government lie. Actually, it's a tissue of lies.
The government press release begins with some facts:
Demetrius Nathaniel Pitts, aka Abdur Raheem Rafeeq, aka Salah ad-Deen Osama
Waleed, 48, of Maple Heights, Ohio, was charged with one count of attempting
to provide material support to al Qaeda, a designated foreign terrorist
organization. Pitts was arrested Sunday [July 1] by members of the FBI's
Joint Terrorism Task Force.
This press feed is well-framed to make readers think the worst - "al Qaeda"
and "terrorist" and "Terrorism Task Force." And all those aliases - that's
scary stuff. But what did Pitts actually do? And why only one count? And who
else was involved? The details fail to live up to the hype.
Instead of clarifying the arrest, the press release then continues for its
next four fat paragraphs with chest-thumping government officials offering
bloated, irrelevant, and largely false rhetoric - "the dangerous threat
posed by radical Islamic terrorism" and "plans to attack innocent civilians"
and "working to keep our communities safe and secure." This is all good,
solid Orwellian language as it avoids lying without actually telling the
truth. And it makes one wonder: Good lord, what on earth was Demetrius Pitts
up to all by himself? According to the press release:
"Pitts, a U.S. citizen living in Ohio, pledged his allegiance to al-Qaeda, a
foreign terrorist organization, and was planning to conduct an attack in
Cleveland on Independence Day, the very day we celebrate the freedoms we
have in this country," said Special Agent in Charge [Stephen] Anthony. "The
FBI commends the public for reporting individuals that espouse their radical
beliefs and/or engage in behavior that threaten the lives of our military
personnel and community."
This is the only - mysterious - reference in the press release to thank "the
public for reporting individuals." And does the FBI now consider it a crime
for people to "espouse their radical beliefs"? Isn't that a radical belief?
And does the thanks to informers mean that there was NO independent
investigative work? The balance of the press release comprises a summary of
a court-filed affidavit that completely supports such a conclusion.
Apparently this heroic defense of public safety consisted of someone giving
Pitts's name to the FBI some time ago and the FBI then executing a sting
operation bordering on entrapment (or more likely actual entrapment) of a
man of less than full competence or significant ability. Not only that, it's
taken the FBI almost two and a half years to instigate Pitts to allegedly
criminal action, as the FBI admits (indirectly) in its 31-page affidavit
filed by Special Agent Andrew Wilson, a 22-year veteran assigned to the
Cleveland Joint Terrorism Task Force:
6. On December 31, 2015, a Facebook profile for ABDUR RAHEEM RAFEEQ (which
was ultimately determined to be PITTS) came to the FBI's attention after
RAFEEQ sent a private Facebook message to "The Craig Sewing Show," a
California-based political commentary program, stating: "Fuck America and
there arm[sic] forces. The USA will be destroy. Allahu Akbar."
First of all, this is all Constitutionally-protected free speech. Secondly,
no serious terrorist is going to out himself to the Craig Sewing Show. What
Pitts probably unwittingly did was to set himself up as a clay pigeon for
the FBI to take potshots at. There is a long, shameful pattern of FBI agents
manipulating marginal people into imaginary threats to build a bogus arrest
record that actually undermines freedom by "defending" it. Who knows how
many people rot in jail as "terrorists" only because they were entrapped by
the FBI in "plots" that never actually existed as real-world threats? The
FBI apparently ignored Pitts for a year until he made another post, on
Facebook, according to the FBI affidavit:
7. On January 25, 2017, PITTS used his Facebook account Abdur Raheem Rafeeq
(UID 100010669985661) to comment on pictures believed to be from a jihad
training camp. PITTS posted, "We as Muslim need to start. Training like this
everyday. We need to known how to shoot guns. Throw hand grenades hand to
hand combat. How survey out in the woods. Look at the bed blue eyed devils.
They teach their little dogs on how to shoot and Hunt. If you fear death.
Then don't say you love Islam. The Rasool saw said. We should always be
prepared to fight in the name of Allah Akbar. All cowards stay home.
Walsalaam. Abdur Raheem sahl Rafeeq. Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu
Akbar."
The FBI slouched into action, reviewing Pitts's Facebook account in February
2017 and observing it into June 2018. According to the affidavit, during
those 16 months, the FBI believed Pitts was "threatening violence against
the United States," "expressed a desire to recruit people to kill
Americans," and was "willing to conduct a U.S. based attack." The FBI took
no action. Neither did Pitts.
As of early 2018, Demetrius Nathaniel Pitts, 48, an African-American US
citizen, had apparently been living a quiet life in Willoughby, Ohio, about
19 miles east of Cleveland on Lake Erie. In May he apparently moved to Maple
Heights, about 13 miles south of Cleveland. It's not clear what he did for
work, or whether he was employed. He apparently lived alone. After the FBI
arrested Pitts, Diane Stoudemire, his aunt near Cincinnati, expressed
bewilderment, even though she hadn't heard from him in two years:
He's never been a violent person, so that's what I don't understand.. He had
had some problems with drugs and everything. He came up without his father,
which is my brother, that was killed before Demetrius was born. His mother
passed away while Demetrius was in penitentiary, so he's been having such a
hard time..
Diane Stoudemire said Pitts lived "on the fringe" of society, but had no
idea he'd been living near Cleveland:
We've been worried about him, because I was his favorite aunt. And he used
to would come to me, and I haven't heard from Demetrius in a few years.. He
was a good person. I never knew him to get in no trouble, like hurting
somebody or fighting or anything. Anything he ever done was to himself.
According to the FBI at a July 2 press conference, Pitts has a criminal
history that includes felonious assault and aggravated robbery in 1989, when
he was 19. He served less than a year before being released on probation. He
was arrested in 2006 but charges were dismissed. He was arrested again in
2007, convicted on a theft charge, and placed on probation. He was arrested
in 2016 for absconding from probation in 2009.
On June 18, everything started to change from bad to worse for Pitts. That
was the day the FBI sent an undercover agent to meet with Pitts in
Willoughby and surreptitiously recorded their conversation (excerpted in the
FBI affidavit). The conversation is full of violent fantasy to which the FBI
agent contributes, but nothing like a plan or even a credible threat
emerges. Pitts makes it clear that he has not joined al Qaeda but would take
a test to join. The FBI agent suggests a test: "take out a soldier? A US
Army soldier?" Pitts responds: "He dead. He dead. He dead. It's like I
said." Then Pitts seems to back off the idea. They go through a similar loop
talking about killing a Marine. Nothing is decided, or even promised. Pitts
does not ask the FBI agent to prove he's from al Qaeda.
On June 22, the FBI agent met with Pitts in Walton Hills and surreptitiously
recorded the conversation (excerpted in the affidavit). The FBI agent starts
with a pitch that fits an effort at entrapment:
And so that's part of, part of the question. Part of the in and out is
understanding what al Qaeda is about and then wanting to know are you
willing to, I mean any brother that's gonna be in al Qaeda has to be willing
to do all the things that we've already talked about.. That's why I mean, I
mean, I mean I'm excited I went back but of course the brothers, they wanna
build trust by steps. And they're willing to send a brother out to meet you
but we gotta make, we gotta get to that level too. The other thing too is I
mean there is, there is risk with all this and that's why we gotta, we gotta
start somewhere. I mean I think we are there but I gotta go back and
convince.. I mean I think that can happen pretty soon. But-but this is, but
I think this is what this is a big thing that was asked of me cause I told
him I told him about hey the value in the knife fighting. The possibility of
like what we talked about last time. Finding places where we could get in
and set up a bomb. I mean if they provide the bomb maker and we find the
path in. Then man, dude we can do, I mean you wanna talk about if doing
something like that, that from, from, from within, that will shake them more
than 9/11 . 9/11 mashallah was amazing.
Pitts doesn't buy into any this. He volunteers that he been thinking about
the 4th of July, but nothing specific. Pitts says: "I'm trying to figure out
something that would shake them up on the 4th of July.. See I-I that's why I
like chess." Pitts mentions "a bomb to blow up at the 4th of July parade,"
then rejects it because of too many surveillance cameras in the city. The
FBI agent abets the "planning" by googling a map of downtown Cleveland.
Later the same day, the FBI agent promises to provide Pitts with a bus pass
and a cell phone.
On June 25, a second FBI agent posing as "a trusted 'brother'" met with
Pitts in Maple Heights, delivering the bus pass and cell phone.
On June 26, Pitts texted the first FBI agent that he had scouted out
downtown Cleveland, as discussed. Pitts said he planned to go to
Philadelphia (his hometown) for further surveillance. The FBI agent talked
to Pitts on the phone and asked if Pitts was going through with the July 4th
plan that other "brothers" were building devices for. The conversation was
inconclusive.
On June 27, Pitts met with the second agent posing as a "brother" and turned
in his cell phone. The second agent gave Pitts a black flag as a terrorist
symbol. Later the same day, Pitts met with the first FBI agent for two and a
half hours to discuss "the impending July 4th bombing" (according to the FBI
affidavit). Pitts says he's going to spend the day July 3 casing the
surroundings, "We're just takin' pictures, takin' video." Pitts says he
wants to see the explosion on the 4th and the FBI agent says:
You wanna see it - you wanna see that fireball go flying - you wanna see the
body parts flying into the sky?... Alright. Well you know what? Like where
we were standing when you can overlook the whole lake, off by that - on top
of that parking garage, you can get a pretty good view from way up there.
At this point in the affidavit, neither party has specified just what kind
of bomb might be used and they've discussed a number of possibilities. They
have no specific target. The FBI agent seems confused: "Oh, so you're
talking like uh - like uh full car bomb in the whole van." Pitts, who has no
way of knowing about and no connection with any bomb, agrees. The FBI agent
says: "Alright. I mean this is a - we're going from a remote control car
bomb to a full size van." Pitts seems to agree but talks about the remote
control toy cars with bombs. This seems to fluster the FBI agent, the
conversation wanders, "this is gonna take an adjustment and my plan was for
the - well what we kinda - they gonna bring in the bomb guy for us.." They
seem to reassure each other that they're going through with the plan even
though they haven't settled on the plan. Pitts isn't planning to be involved
with the bombing directly:
My part is just to go scope, get the information we need, and bring it
back.. See you gotta have Brothers who don't nobody never see. Like I don't
wanna meet all the Brothers. No.
The FBI agent agrees to this. Later in the day, Pitts texted the FBI agent
that the plan was impossible, too much security. Pitts talks about pushing
on, maybe in Philadelphia:
Ahki (brother) I want to do this by myself. I have no reason to live. Since
I know Philly very well. All I need from the brother. Is some chicken eggs
that go [emojis inserted that appear to be explosions]. I will put my life
on the line. This will be done in September labor day. Just help me get
there. So ahki you must show me. How to drive again. Now can you do that.
You don't need to be in this. Ahki you have a family. So keep your hands
clean ahki.
On June 28, on the direction of the first FBI agent, Pitts carried out
instructions relating to the imaginary bombing, including searching for a
vehicle. Pitts said a purchase would be difficult because he'd have to
provide a driver's license. The FBI agent suggested a strawman purchase.
Pitts found several possible vehicles, but bought none.
June 30, the FBI agent "told Pitts that the attack Pitts planned in
Cleveland for July 4th was a "go" and that the al Qaeda brothers were happy
with Pitts' plan for Cleveland" (according to the FBI affidavit), even
though there was still no clear record of any specific plan. The FBI agent
egged Pitts on with false promises of a "large explosion . on behalf of al
Qaeda."
On July 1, the FBI agent met with Pitts in Garfield Heights to learn what
plan Pitts had for Philadelphia. Pitts explained he was still planning an
attack that he wanted to be bloody. The FBI showed Pitts a "remote control
car . [that] contained C-4 explosives and BB's" rigged by the FBI, a toy
that could roll under a police vehicle. Pitts freely speculated on uses for
remote control cars as well as a larger bomb that he assumed existed. The
meeting ended with his arrest.
On July 2, the Justice Department issued its deceitful press release,
claiming to have protected the country from a fearsome terrorist attack,
even though the FBI knew that attack was never even close to taking place,
and even though the FBI knew Pitts had zero capability of carrying it out on
his own. The FBI makes no claim to the contrary, but merely asserts the
sort-of-true claim that Pitts "did knowingly attempt to provide material
support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization." The FBI does not
acknowledge that the "foreign terrorist organization" was an FBI fiction and
that Pitts's attempt was based on a delusion.
The FBI filings make very clear that no terrorism and no threat of terrorism
existed before the FBI decided to pump one up, using a troubled, angry,
isolated black man as its pawn to inflate its own institutional ego with
fake news. And the news media bought the fake news as presented,
uncritically parroting the FBI spin that they stopped an attempted terror
attack.
CNN: Man accused of plotting terror attack on July 4th parade in Cleveland
New York Times: Man Arrested in Cleveland Terror Plot After F.B.I. Sting
ABC News: Man accused of planning terrorist attack in Cleveland had San
Francisco travel plans
USA Today: FBI: Man who planned attack on Cleveland wanted to give
explosive-filled cars to military children
And so it went across the news media, with a presumption of guilt fostered
by FBI lies taken at face value. FBI agent Stephen Anthony set the tone for
media coverage:
Law enforcement cannot sit back and wait for Mr. Pitts to commit a violent
attack.. We don't have the luxury of hoping an individual decides not do
harm someone or get others to act.
This is disingenuous to the point of deceit. This is a totalitarian mindset.
Anthony knows full well that Pitts has never committed a terrorist act, that
Pitts has never attempted a terrorist act, that Pitts is known to have
"planned" a terrorist act only with FBI incitement. The FBI knows it has no
evidence that Pitts is even capable of committing a terrorist act. Based on
the available evidence, Pitts has done nothing worse than exercise his First
Amendment rights in politically incorrect ways, expressing deep anger and
hostility toward the US for its endless slaughter or Muslims. What Pitts was
incoherently expressing was rage at his own country's terrorism. For that,
his country makes him the terrorist.
That's not a reality that many Americans can perceive from their
9/11-induced fear bubble (that the FBI cleverly invoked). The hysteria of
9/11 has not abated much. We continue to spend endless millions on terrorism
task forces, so of course they're going to find terrorists even where there
are none - that's their job. And if they can't find terrorists, they'll
invent them as they did with Demetrius Pitts, who was essentially helpless
once the FBI targeted him. His case should bring shame to anyone serious
about law enforcement and justice. Instead it has brought on nothing better
than official empty strutting and craven media credulity.
As for Demetrius Pitts, he has been serially lynched - first by life, which
could happen to anyone. But then he was lynched by an FBI in search of easy
prey, next he was lynched by the Justice Department in search of easy
praise, and now he is being lynched by news media in search of easy answers.
In due course, he will likely be lynched by the court system and then by the
prison system.
This case is what societal failure looks like. Police-state tactics can
railroad an innocent man and no one questions the police state's flimsy
official story.
William M. Boardman has over 40 years experience in theater, radio, TV,
print journalism,
