FBI: Sydney siege gunman had raised incitement concerns

[webfact]

FBI: Sydney siege gunman had raised incitement concerns
ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press
KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Five years before he held 18 people hostage inside a Sydney cafe, Iranian-born Man Haron Monis attracted the attention of the FBI as someone who had "the potential to incite others to violence," according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

A November 2009 memorandum from an FBI office in Australia to the agency's counterterrorism division said that while Monis was not believed to be a threat to national security, "his ongoing offensive and nuisance behavior has the potential to incite others to violence."

A shotgun-wielding Monis took customers and workers captive in a December 2014 siege at the Lindt Cafe in Sydney and demanded to be delivered an Islamic State flag, an incident that fueled anxiety about the extremist group's expanding influence across the globe. Police stormed the cafe 16 hours later, after Monis fatally shot one of the hostages. Monis was shot dead by police and another hostage was killed in the crossfire.

Though it's been established that Australian authorities failed to detect that Monis was a threat, despite years of warnings, the memo shows how the FBI was itself concerned about his rhetoric even before the Islamic State group emerged as a prominent international force and well ahead of the siege. The documents are heavily redacted, and it was not immediately clear what additional action, if any, was taken in Australia or how widely that assessment was shared across Australian law enforcement.

The memo, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, was drafted as the FBI considered whether the self-styled cleric with a long criminal history should be able to have a U.S.-based Internet service provider host his website. The memo noted that Monis, who also went by the name of Sheikh Haron, maintained on his website "inflammatory and fundamentalist material regarding the Islamic religion, jihad, suicide bombings and terrorism." A "veiled call to jihad against President Barack Obama" had also been observed on the site, according to the note.

The siege is currently the subject of a long-running coroner's inquest being held in Sydney. The inquest, a court-like proceeding convened after unusual deaths, is aimed at determining how the hostages and Monis died, how authorities responded and whether the siege could have been prevented.

The inquest is also examining whether Monis was a lone wolf attempting to carry out an Islamic State group-inspired act, given that it appears he never established contact with the militant movement. Many believe Monis was simply a disturbed individual who was lashing out against a series of perceived personal injustices. In the lead-up to the siege, Monis' life had been in a downward spiral; he had lost custody of his children, was in debt and was facing possible jail time on charges of sexual assault.

An Australian government review last year found no major faults with multiple agencies that failed to detect the threat Monis posed, despite his being out on bail on sexual assault and accessory to murder charges when he launched the attack. Then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott did, however, acknowledge the system itself had failed, saying Monis should never have been allowed into Australia, should not have been out on bail and should not have been able to get a gun.

Monis was on authorities' radars for years before the siege. He arrived in Australia on a business visa in 1996 and was made a citizen in 2004. Before being granted citizenship, he was interviewed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation multiple times for security assessments required as part of the immigration process. The agency ultimately found he wasn't a security risk.

The security agency investigated him again between 2008 and 2009 after he had sent offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers. Again, it found no threat.

Australia's National Security Hotline received 18 calls and emails from the public related to posts on Monis' Facebook page in the six days leading up to the siege. The public's warnings, which referred to posts about making a pledge of allegiance to the "Caliph of the Muslims," were passed along to the security intelligence agency and the Australian Federal Police. The security agency determined the complaints did not indicate Monis intended to engage in terrorism.

___

Gelineau reported from Sydney.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-05-18

[JetsetBkk]

The security agency determined the complaints did not indicate Monis intended to engage in terrorism.

Sack the lot of 'em.

[up2u2]

FBI Office in Australia?

The FBI has no jurisdiction in Australia

As it turned out their warning was incorrect.

[Kiwi1]

Over the years there have been numerous cases where individuals known to be mentally disturbed and/or suspected of being a terrorist threat (or in some cases having a history of terrorism or association with such groups) commit a highly visible terrorist action. Typically the individual dies in the event or shortly after, usually shot by the authorities. Usually the star performer is a Muslim.

During the Cold War period this pattern of crime was carried out widely in Europe, particularly in Italy, and the perpetrators were identified as communist terrorisits. Since then the facts about Operation Gladio have been revealed. It was a programme of 'false flag' attacks carried out by right wing operatives who had been organised into an underground army intended to go into action in the event of an invasion by the Russians.

There are so many parallels to the recent times that some refer to them as 'Gladio II' events.

I make no judgement about the Sydney affair, but must confess to a certain scepticism about reports that the Australian authorities 'knew nothing'.

[Doc46]

He should have been kicked out of the country after his first siege 5 years ago ,,,Citizen or not he's still a Foreigner by birth,,

[lvr181]

Australian security authorities need to learn to be pro-active and not re-active. And to hell with political correctness. Two people unnecessarily died as a result of bungling by security authorities and the judicial system (which is so far up its own ass it cannot see the forest for the trees).

[chuckd]

FBI Office in Australia?

The FBI has no jurisdiction in Australia

As it turned out their warning was incorrect.

1. Every US Embassy has FBI personnel assigned to them, primarily for investigative work on visas and US related subject matters.

2. The FBI knows full well they have no jurisdiction in Australia but I'm certain they will appreciate your admonishment. They weren't trying to arrest anybody but were making a routine inter-agency investigation concerning an application to host a server in the US.

3. What warning and how was it incorrect? Read the OP and you will see nobody knows if the warning was even issued outside the FBI and what action, if any, was taken. From the OP:

"The documents are heavily redacted, and it was not immediately clear what additional action, if any, was taken in Australia or how widely that assessment was shared across Australian law enforcement."

Edited May 19, 2016 by chuckd

[up2u2]

Australian security authorities need to learn to be pro-active and not re-active. And to hell with political correctness. Two people unnecessarily died as a result of bungling by security authorities and the judicial system (which is so far up its own ass it cannot see the forest for the trees).

What did Australian security authorities bungle because of political correctness? Two people died because of a deranged gunman.

[lvr181]

Australian security authorities need to learn to be pro-active and not re-active. And to hell with political correctness. Two people unnecessarily died as a result of bungling by security authorities and the judicial system (which is so far up its own ass it cannot see the forest for the trees).

What did Australian security authorities bungle because of political correctness? Two people died because of a deranged gunman.

No, the system let down those who died. And I think your comment would not be very comforting to the families and friends of those innocents who died in the siege.

Read paragraphs 4 and 5 of the original post. Your "deranged gunman" should not have been on the streets or should no

longer have been in Australia. He was certainly far from being squeaky clean. In my mind he should not have been given the benefit of the doubt.

Abbott was correct in what he said. A good decision on time is always better than a brilliant decision too late!

The courts let him roam free even though he was being investigated about two serious charges.

Forget innocent until proven guilty (political correctness?) - that doesn't always apply, Traffic violations work the other way.

He was given enough rope to "hang himself" and he did that, unfortunately taking two others with him.

Deranged may be the reason but you cannot use it as an excuse for a system failure.

EDIT: Spelling

Edited May 19, 2016 by lvr181

[up2u2]

Australian security authorities need to learn to be pro-active and not re-active. And to hell with political correctness. Two people unnecessarily died as a result of bungling by security authorities and the judicial system (which is so far up its own ass it cannot see the forest for the trees).

What did Australian security authorities bungle because of political correctness? Two people died because of a deranged gunman.

No, the system let down those who died. And I think your comment would not be very comforting to the families and friends of those innocents who died in the siege.

Read paragraphs 4 and 5 of the original post. Your "deranged gunman" should not have been on the streets or should no

longer have been in Australia. He was certainly far from being squeaky clean. In my mind he should not have been given the benefit of the doubt.

Abbott was correct in what he said. A good decision on time is always better than a brilliant decision too late!

The courts let him roam free even though he was being investigated about two serious charges.

Forget innocent until proven guilty (political correctness?) - that doesn't always apply, Traffic violations work the other way.

He was given enough rope to "hang himself" and he did that, unfortunately taking two others with him.

Deranged may be the reason but you cannot use it as an excuse for a system failure.

EDIT: Spelling

I don't see how making up stories assists the victims of the siege either.

Those charges were not hostage or terrorism related.

In retrospect the FBI's conclusions were incorrect.

Other than prosecuting your own biased political agenda I don't see any system failure. Okay to be an expert after events have occurred. Or expecting authorities to have a crystal ball that can see the future.

If Abbott did get something right it would be a first.

Monis was politically deranged but never directly threatened to kill anyone previous to his actions at Lindt Cafe.

[lvr181]

I do not have a politically biased agenda. I am not an Abbott supporter but I do agree with his comments.

Monis was deranged, FULL STOP. Not just politically!

But I guess you would allow a rabid dog to live among us until it bit you or a member of your family causing death or injury before you would act. That is your choice. Mine is to "dispose" of the dog recognising it's danger before something seriously goes wrong. Prevention is better than cure in my way of thinking, politically correct or otherwise.

And I have no further interest in your reply.

Ooops, previous post should have been deleted and in its place this abbreviated version

Edited May 20, 2016 by lvr181

[up2u2]

I do not have a politically biased agenda. I am not an Abbott supporter but I do agree with his comments.

Monis was deranged, FULL STOP. Not just politically!

But I guess you would allow a rabid dog to live among us until it bit you or a member of your family causing death or injury before you would act. That is your choice. Mine is to "dispose" of the dog recognising it's danger before something seriously goes wrong. Prevention is better than cure in my way of thinking, politically correct or otherwise.

And I have no further interest in your reply.

Ooops, previous post should have been deleted and in its place this abbreviated version

Well Australia doesn't have the rabies virus so no I wouldn't be going around disposing of dogs just in case.

Nor would I go around disposing of people when there isn't even a suspicion that they posed a terrorist threat to others which Monis never did. Even the FBI didn't flag him as a person capable of carrying out a terrorist threat.

When did you decide Monis had the potential of taking hostages and staging a violent act of terrorism? That's right AFTER! he actually did it. Right?

Easy to play the hero AFTER an event occurs.