[America] Domestic violent extremism

[Smoove_B]

We already know more about him than the guy that tried to assassinate TFG.

The narrative that will be created around this guy will be insane.

[Holman]

Nearly every Republican on TV today has repeated Trump's insinuation that the (Texas-born, US citizen) NOLA killer came in through "Biden's wide-open borders."

[Isgrimnur]

Something something Big Lie.

[Alefroth]

Nearly every Republican on TV today has repeated Trump's insinuation that the (Texas-born, US citizen) NOLA killer came in through "Biden's wide-open borders."

I'd like to see Biden stop Texans from coming into the U.S.

[Holman]

I begin to suspect that "migrants" is just going to become shorthand for "minorities" this time around.

As in, "sure, *this* guy was born in Texas, but where were his parents from??"

[Alefroth]

Reports now that the Cybertruck driver died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Whatever happened doesn't seem like an accident now.

[Smoove_B]

My gut is telling me we're going to get a lot more use out of this thread in the coming year(s).

[Isgrimnur]

Nearly every Republican on TV today has repeated Trump's insinuation that the (Texas-born, US citizen) NOLA killer came in through "Biden's wide-open borders."

I'd like to see Biden stop Texans from coming into the U.S.

[Alefroth]

You can get asylum.

[Isgrimnur]

[Blackhawk]

Given that the Vegas explosion was a SF soldier, the purpose wasn't likely to be an attempt at an attack. He knows how explosives work far better than I do, and even I know that what he set up wouldn't do much. But a public suicide, big fire (and fireworks) in a Tesla outside of a Trump hotel - it sounds like a political/symbolic statement.

[Smoove_B]

Feels like maybe a memo went out over the weekend.

A Payette (Idaho) man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly planting an explosive device on a railroad car.

According to the Payette Police Department, officers responded to North 8th Street around 6 p.m. on New Year’s Day after receiving a report of a suspicious man attempting to light something on fire near a parked railroad car. The suspect was later identified as 40-year-old Brent Sharrai.

...

Due to the danger posed by the IED, a bomb squad was called to the scene. Union Pacific was notified, and all trains scheduled to pass through the area were put on standby for approximately five hours until the scene was declared safe. An FBI agent also responded to assist with the investigation.

Police said a robot was used to safely remove the IED from the train car, and the device was later detonated.

A search warrant was obtained for the trailer where Sharrai had been staying. Inside, officers reportedly found items similar to those used in the device on the train car, as well as controlled substances and paraphernalia.

Sharrai remains in custody at the Payette County Jail. Federal charges for possession and manufacturing of a destructive device are pending further investigation by the FBI.

[Isgrimnur]

Timed detonation is apparently difficult.

[Blackhawk]

It's not difficult, it's just not as easy as 'light fuse, get away.'

[coopasonic]

Timed detonation is apparently difficult.

A very basic understanding of explosives and a little electrical work is really all that is necessary. Uhhh, I’ve heard.

- Your friendly local demolitions team lead

[Unagi]

Estes FTW

[Punisher]

Timed detonation is apparently difficult.

A very basic understanding of explosives and a little electrical work is really all that is necessary. Uhhh, I’ve heard.

- Your friendly local demolitions team lead

I thought it required dynamite and an old timey alarm clock.

[Kraken]

Timed detonation is apparently difficult.

A very basic understanding of explosives and a little electrical work is really all that is necessary. Uhhh, I’ve heard.

- Your friendly local demolitions team lead

I thought it required dynamite and an old timey alarm clock.

Don't forget the blinking light.

[Jaymann]

Timed detonation is apparently difficult.

A very basic understanding of explosives and a little electrical work is really all that is necessary. Uhhh, I’ve heard.

- Your friendly local demolitions team lead

I thought it required dynamite and an old timey alarm clock.

Don't forget the blinking light.

Backed up by a digital clock that gets stuck on 007.

[Max Peck]

Don't forget the color-coded wires.

[Max Peck]

Forever Wars have consequences.

Tesla Cybertruck driver struggled with mental health, investigators say

The active-duty Green Beret who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas was likely suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and had written a note found on his charred phone stating that he hoped his actions would serve as a “wake-up call” to the American people, investigators revealed Friday.

Screenshots shared by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department show Matthew Livelsberger had written several messages on his phone’s Notes app. In one, the decorated U.S. soldier said Americans would pay attention only to “spectacles and violence.” In another, Livelsberger said he needed to “relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took.”

The writings and new details about his time in the military and his actions in the days leading to the explosion paint a picture of a man haunted by his experiences overseas and closer to home. Investigators said they do not think he held any grievances against President-elect Donald Trump, and instead pointed to his deteriorating mental state to explain the explosion.

Las Vegas police said Livelsberger shot himself in the head. The Cybertruck he’d rented then exploded, leaving seven bystanders with minor injuries.

“He likely suffered from PTSD, and we are also aware that there were potential other family issues,” said Spencer L. Evans, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas field office. “It ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide.”

[Max Peck]

Given that the Vegas explosion was a SF soldier, the purpose wasn't likely to be an attempt at an attack. He knows how explosives work far better than I do, and even I know that what he set up wouldn't do much. But a public suicide, big fire (and fireworks) in a Tesla outside of a Trump hotel - it sounds like a political/symbolic statement.

This sounds pretty much on the nose. Now that investigators have been digging into his motivation and communications, it sounds like he wanted to commit suicide and create a spectacle that people would notice, but didn't want to kill anyone else. This could have been so much worse if his brain had broken in even a slightly different direction.

Robert Evans has what seems like a good take on the "ineffectiveness" of the VBIED:
https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky. ... szelsdek2z

I've seen a lot of posts about how shitty the bomb was and folks, if someone makes a bomb that blows up when they want it to blow up they are automatically in the top like, 1% of bomb-guys

by a wide margin the least common thing home-made bombs do is detonate

Taken in the context of what is now known, it seems like the bomb did pretty much exactly what he wanted it to do.

[Smoove_B]

I know we've mentioned the New Orleans attack in another thread, but things have taken a bit of a twist there as well:

Federal investigators have confirmed that the New Orleans terror attack suspect used a type of bomb that has never been used in an attack in the United States or Europe, according to a new report by NBC News.

According to NBC, the suspect used a "very rare explosive compound" that was found in the two IEDS placed in the French Quarter.

This feels like an odd comment though:

NBC reports that investigators are now trying to find out how the suspect could have known how to create the homemade explosive.

If only there was a place you could go to learn things. I guess it'll continue to be a mystery.

Either way, I'm guessing we're going to learn this was (1) more coordinated and (2) less lone wolf than was originally thought. And I guess we don't have to worry about anything happening in New Orleans in February and March.

[Max Peck]

Apparently they found his bomb-making materials at his rental house (he tried and failed to burn it), so there doesn't seem to be any evidence that someone else made the IEDs for him, and the AP reporting I just read describes them as crude rather than sophisticated. I guess it remains to be seen if the materials he used are unusual in the sense of being better or worse than normal.

New Orleans attacker had suspected bomb materials at home, reserved truck weeks ago, officials say

Authorities found crude bombs that had been planted in the neighborhood in an apparent attempt to cause more carnage. Two improvised explosive devices left in coolers several blocks apart were rendered safe at the scene, officials said. Other devices were determined to be nonfunctional.

Investigators recovered from Jabbar’s rental truck a transmitter intended to trigger the two bombs, the FBI said in a statement Friday. It also said authorities found bomb-making materials at the New Orleans home Jabbar rented prior to the attack. Jabbar tried to burn the house down by setting a small fire in a hallway and placing accelerants to help spread it, the FBI said. The flames burned out before firefighters arrived.

[Punisher]

Don't forget the color-coded wires.

And the beep that gets louder and faster.

[Blackhawk]

Homemade RDX?

[Smoove_B]

This article on ProPublica is making the rounds, and it certainly belongs here:

On April 1, 2023, Williams retrieved the bag from his closet and rushed to his car. He had no time to clean the dishes that had accumulated in his apartment. He did not know if armed men were out looking for him. He did not know if he would ever feel safe to return. He parked his car for the night in the foothills overlooking Salt Lake City and curled up his 6-foot-4-inch frame in the back seat of the 20-year-old Honda. This was his new home.

He turned on a recording app to add an entry to his diary. His voice had the high-pitched rasp of a lifelong smoker: “Where to fucking start,” he sighed, taking a deep breath. After more than two years undercover, he’d been growing rash and impulsive. He had feared someone was in danger and tried to warn him, but it backfired. Williams was sure at least one person knew he was a double agent now, he said into his phone. “It’s only a matter of time before it gets back to the rest.”

In the daylight, Williams dropped an envelope with no return address in a U.S. Postal Service mailbox. He’d loaded it with a flash drive and a gold Oath Keepers medallion.

It was addressed to me.

It's really long, but it details how Williams was able to integrate himself into a few different militia groups to experience first-hand what they've been doing (and what they're planning on doing).

Spoiler - it's bad. And so your first thought is, why is this happening? Why isn't anyone doing anything?

Spoiler:

Because the militias are being led by cops, doctors and government attorneys

[LawBeefaroni]

Will be largely ignored by the world. Doesn't fit into a single inflammatory tweet.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, if I could turn that article into a TikTok dance, I'm sure it would gain traction.

[Holman]

I read that one yesterday. It's worth the time.

It's intriguing that Williams told the reporter that they would release a huge trove of recordings and records after the article appears.

[Max Peck]

Spoiler:

Because the militias are being led by cops, doctors and government attorneys

Spoiler:

Including a doctor working at United Fucking Health...

[LordMortis]

Spoiler:

Because the militias are being led by cops, doctors and government attorneys

Spoiler:

Including a doctor working at United Fucking Health...

Yeah, that glared at me as well. Not because of his position of authority there. Just the association. UH's name was mud with me before the assassination after reading about their denial and stall rates being so much worse than the absolutely rest of the dreadful industry, with me currently being in stall and denial loops. (I have unpaid bills going into collections this week with an insurance provider ignoring the health care system and lawyers. Yay! And to think UH is considered so much worse.)

[Smoove_B]

Homemade RDX?

You're one smart dude:

Jackson said the preliminary field tests indicated the IEDs contained what he described as "R-Salt explosives," saying the material is similar to RDX explosives and easily obtained in the United States.

Jackson said investigators do not believe Jabbar obtained the R-Salt explosives from overseas, which some media outlets have reported.

The IEDs left in the two coolers failed to go off either because Jabbar was shot to death by New Orleans police officers during a gun battle that ensued after the truck ramming, or because he used the wrong mechanism to detonate the explosives, Jackson said. He said it appeared Jabbar had intended to detonate the devices with an electronic match or a hobby switch, which are both readily available in the U.S., as opposed to a more professional detonation device, which is harder to obtain.

"He didn't use the right or correct device to set it off, and that is just indicative of his inexperience and lack of understanding how that material might be set off," Jackson said.

I feel like they're calling him a dummy in the news to bait an accomplice into revealing themselves.

[Unagi]

Homemade RDX?

You're one smart dude:

Jackson said the preliminary field tests indicated the IEDs contained what he described as "R-Salt explosives," saying the material is similar to RDX explosives and easily obtained in the United States.

Jackson said investigators do not believe Jabbar obtained the R-Salt explosives from overseas, which some media outlets have reported.

The IEDs left in the two coolers failed to go off either because Jabbar was shot to death by New Orleans police officers during a gun battle that ensued after the truck ramming, or because he used the wrong mechanism to detonate the explosives, Jackson said. He said it appeared Jabbar had intended to detonate the devices with an electronic match or a hobby switch, which are both readily available in the U.S., as opposed to a more professional detonation device, which is harder to obtain.

"He didn't use the right or correct device to set it off, and that is just indicative of his inexperience and lack of understanding how that material might be set off," Jackson said.

I feel like they're calling him a dummy in the news to bait an accomplice into revealing themselves.

I don't follow that.
Why would an accomplice feel compelled to speak up if the man's plans are being described as ammatuer? Wouldn't that make an accomplice feel embarrassedand and actually want to distance themselves from the "botched" bombing - not step up and take credit.

[Smoove_B]

I don't follow that.
Why would an accomplice feel compelled to speak up if the man's plans are being described as ammatuer? Wouldn't that make an accomplice feel embarrassed and and actually want to distance themselves from the "botched" bombing - not step up and take credit.

Ego is a hell of a thing. If they believed they were so smart and were going to pull off this awesome terror event only to have their plan laughed at by law enforcement on TV? That's going to make them angry - possibly angry enough to speak out online somewhere about how they're going to do it again or whatever.

Maybe I'm totally wrong and this guy really was operating by himself. It just seems like an odd comment to make to the news.

[Blackhawk]

The IEDs left in the two coolers failed to go off either because Jabbar was shot to death by New Orleans police officers during a gun battle that ensued after the truck ramming, or because he used the wrong mechanism to detonate the explosives, Jackson said. He said it appeared Jabbar had intended to detonate the devices with an electronic match or a hobby switch, which are both readily available in the U.S., as opposed to a more professional detonation device, which is harder to obtain.

"He didn't use the right or correct device to set it off, and that is just indicative of his inexperience and lack of understanding how that material might be set off," Jackson said.

I feel like they're calling him a dummy in the news to bait an accomplice into revealing themselves.

What he used would never have set it off.

[Holman]

I feel like they're calling him a dummy in the news to bait an accomplice into revealing themselves.

It seems like they would have more success having this conversation in the corners of the dark web where bomb makers discuss their craft.