By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Three North Carolina men were stockpiling weapons and tactical gear because they feared a government takeover and martial law, the Associated Press reports.

The trio from Gaston County, near Charlotte, was arrested Saturday following an investigation that lasted more than a month and included allegations that the men were trying to make pipe bombs and live grenades. Some of the explosives were being made out of tennis balls filled in nails and coffee cans stuffed with ball bearings.

Their fears of a takeover appear to have been triggered by ongoing special forces training that “has drawn suspicion from residents who fear it is part of a planned military takeover,” the AP wrote.

The FBI acted on a tip that the men were trying to make homemade explosives.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A federal trial has begun in the case of an FBI agent accused of framing a man in the kidnapping and robbery of two Kansas City drug dealers.

FBI agent Robert Buchan is accused of framing Gary Engel, a former Willow Springs, Ill. cop, who was sentenced to 90 years in prison but released after 20 years after evidence surfaced that a mobster, Anthony Mammolito, had been paid $500 to be a key witness in the trial, the Chicago Tribune reports. 

Engel ended up hanging himself.

His brother sued.

During opening statements Monday in Chicago federal court, Engel’s attorney, Jon Loevy, said his client was “collateral damage” by FBI agents willing to do anything to put him behind bars.

“Gary Engel’s life was ruined by a completely unconstitutional trial in which he was railroaded,” Loevy said. “Gary went down in their quest for Steve Manning, but Gary is a real person.”

The agent’s attorney said Engel clearly committed the crime.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Did Hillary Clinton put American security at risk by using a private email server to communicate when she was the secretary of state?

The FBI is investigating the security of the private email server, NBC News reports.

The bureau also also asked a Clinton attorney about the security of a thumb drive that held copies of the emails.

NBC reports that the investigation is into the procedures and email system, not Clinton.

The concern is that Clinton sent and received classified information on unsecured email.

Blue Moon/Wikipedia

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Three family members in Florida, including a Homeland Security employee, were beaten with a claw hammer and their throats were slit in a triple murder that appears to be tied to “witchcraft” and the blue moon, The Washington Post reports. 

Law enforcement said the gruesome attack near Pensacola, Fla., was being investigated as a “ritualistic killing.” Killed were Voncile Smith, 77, and her sons John William Smith, 49; and Richard Thomas Smith, 47, a Homeland Security employee who also was shot in the head.

“The elements of this case are odd, at best,” Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said at a news conference, as Reuters reported. “We have a very reclusive family. Obviously we’ve canvassed the neighborhood, spoken to people who’ve lived there for years and years. Neighbors have related to us that they’ve never met members of this family.”

Police said they have an person of interest “with ties to witchcraft.”

“Initial research has led us to believe it was a ritualistic killing,” Morgan also said, as the Pensacola News Journal reported. “The method of the murder — blunt force trauma, slit throats, positioning of bodies — and our person of interest has some ties to a faith or religion that is indicative of that. The time of the death on Tuesday also coincides with what’s referred to as a blue moon, which occurs every three years.”

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The Secret Service continued the process of reform by appointing its first chief operating officer.

Good Morning America reports that George Mulligan, a former director of the White Military office, took the job.

“George is a proven leader who will bring broad management experience, knowledge and initiative to the Secret Service as our first COO,” Secret Service Director Joseph P. Clancy said.

The COO position was announced in March following the recommendation of an independent review panel charged with improving the Secret Service.

The job places Millgan in charge of overseeing, planning and directing program activities.

Good Morning America wrote:

Mulligan comes from the Department of Defense, where he spent 29 years as both a senior civilian executive and a former naval officer. He most recently served as chief of staff to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics and Deputy director for the Washington Headquarters Services and Director of Enterprise management.

In 2009, President Obama appointed Mulligan as the Director of the White House Military Office, where he worked closely with the Secret Service.

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