Use terrorists' stupidity against them
This is a dangerous time for the United States. Open source research can help
As an American and as a human being, I remain horrified by the events of January 6, 2021. As a resident of Washington D.C., a city I fiercely love, I also feel violated. However, I don’t feel helpless. And here’s why:
If you’re paying attention to the news, you’ve probably taken notice of how easily the terrorists that stormed our Capitol are being unmasked — mostly due to their own social media activity.
If history has taught us anything, these people are going to get smarter. Or, rather, other people, seduced by Trump’s seditious lies, are going to learn from their example.
Still, we’re going to find ways to exploit their social media activity. Here are some steps we can take right now:
Exploit the fact that they often don’t know that people can cross-reference data
For a good example, see this tweet that I did about a person spouting off on Parler:
The internet found a public Instagram account with the same name & profile picture very quickly:
We can hope that all of this talk of terror and sedition is just a phase for young Mason. Still, the FBI also now knows about it.
Exploit fashion
Now, this detail got me extra pissed off, to be honest, because I own a Black Rifle Coffee Company hat. I stole it from a very dear friend, a former U.S. Marine, one night in New York City (to be perfectly clear, he owed me, and the hat became our way of settling a score). I love my hat, and I am angry at what it’s come to be associated with.
Still, the point is that a lot of these people can’t help themselves. They embrace symbolism, as all subcultures do. This can make it easier to find them, even if/when they wind up switching up styles.
Even some of the crazier far-right thugs I’ve seen in Russia and Ukraine, the ones who, you would imagine, are more hardcore, will gravitate toward symbolism. It’s tied to their notion of identity, that thing they think they are protecting when they stage attempted coups and do other bad things. Zoom in on the details of their clothing, and you can learn a lot about them.
Exploit their digital ecosystem
As outlined in this guide, which you should generally take under consideration when hunting terrorists online, most people have friends and relatives. A lot of those friends and relatives have unsecured social media accounts.
These present opportunities for you to narrow down your search. For example, if you see a fairly locked down account on Facebook, search for potential relatives (same last name, same general area, etc). You never know what kind of information you could come across.
Also, remember, not all relatives and friends are going to be protective of a terrorist. In fact, as we’ve seen, a lot of people are coming forward and saying, “Hey, we’ve been worried about this person for years.” Or even, “Hey, the person in the video is my dear auntie. I must identify her after the horrible stunt she just pulled.”
This is why, and this is important, you should not be a dick to the friends and relatives of your mark. Grand-standing on social media is all fine and well, but if you’re here to help the authorities snatch a domestic terrorist, you have to be smart. And polite. And remember that it’s not about you.
Archive ALL incriminating information
A good resource for that is archive.is
Don’t take any unnecessary risks
Leave that to the feds, it’s what they get paid to do. You’re not a vigilante. This is not a movie.
Finally, remember the end game
Most people in this country don’t want terror and mayhem. But sometimes, all it takes is one psychopath to light a match.
Consider what happened in Columbine. I often return to Dave Cullen’s wonderful book on the subject, because it teaches us so much about the modern age.
Dylan Klebold was not a bad kid. He was simply lonely and angry — in many ways, he was a typical teenager. But Dylan was seduced and corrupted by the darkness inside Eric Harris, who, by all accounts, was a true psychopath.
If you want to stop the corruption before it spreads even further you have to be pragmatic, careful, and, yes, compassionate. Not to people who have already crossed a particular bridge and would kill our democracy and string up our elected officials, but to others, who, like Dylan, who are lonely and angry right now.
Keeping them in mind, I must tell you that particularly love this message by Arnold Schwarznegger:
It’s powerful, it’s intuitive, it’s sincere, it’s vulnerable in places, and thus stronger for it.
Arnold gets it. He gets the historic moment we are in. Let’s hope we all can be more like him, if we try.