FBI’s James Comey confirms ISIS 4th of July attacks stopped, 10 arrested
photo/Islamic State flag
The Obama administration doesn’t always send the message that ISIS is a legit threat, but the fact the FBI stopped ISIS-connected terror plots to kill Americans on July 4th should make more news headlines.
FBI Director James Comey confirmed on Thursday that U.S. authorities thwarted plots to kill people in the United States around the July 4 holiday.
Comey told reporters more than 10 people inspired by the Islamic State’s recruitment online have been arrested over the past four weeks, some of which were focused on attacks around the July 4 holiday.
“I do believe our work disrupted efforts to kill people likely in connection with July 4th,” Comey told reporters at the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Comey did not give the details on the number of plots stopped or their targets.
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had warned local law enforcement to be on alert for attacks around the July 4 holiday.
No such attacks occurred.
Comey described the ISIS Internet recruiting tactic as “crowd sourcing terrorism” and said the FBI had accepted the heightened state as the “new normal.”
Some of those arrested were communicating with Islamic State via encrypted data, a second U.S. security source said.
The FBI has pressured tech companies to remove encryption that gives users privacy protections that cannot be broken by law enforcement.
Comey estimated that dozens of people influenced by Islamic State have “gone dark” and disappeared from the FBI’s watch because of encrypted data.
Islamic State supporter in Chicago photo Twitter
