By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A self-described white supremacist was convicted of multiple charges related to a plot to kill a drug deal with outstanding debts in Georgia.

The case broke open after an FBI informant and admitted white nationalist alerted the bureau to Adrian Apodaca, saying the Florida man had admitted to murdering several people in New Mexico and Arizona, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. 

The FBI dispatched a team of undercover agents posing as white supremacists who were owed money by an Atlanta drug dealer, who also was an FBI plant.

Recordings played at the trial indicate Apodaca offered to kill the “dealer” in exchange for $5,000 and a false identity to avoid investigators who wanted to question him in at least one murder.

Jurors took just three hours to convict Apodaca, 45. He faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 8.

Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Special counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed Paul Manafort’s spokesman and one of his former attorneys.

Manafort, who is Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, is under investigation for possible tax and financial crimes in connection with his work for the former ruling party in Ukraine, which had espoused pro-Russian policies.

The subpoena seeks documents and testimony from attorney Melissa Laurenza and Jason Maloni, who is Manafort’s spokesman.

Business Insider wrote:

Manafort is one of a handful of Trump campaign associates who have been a central focus of the Russia ongoing probe. The Trump campaign brought him on in March 2016 to help wrangle delegates ahead of the Republican National Convention, and he was promoted to campaign chairman in May that year.

Manafort resigned three months later amid scrutiny over millions of dollars in undisclosed payments for work he performed on behalf of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. Since then, Manafort’s work as a foreign agent has remained under the microscope in the US’ Russia investigation, which led to an FBI raid at one of his homes in Alexandria, Virginia, last month.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Eight months after Maine residents voted to legalize marijuana, defiant Border Patrol agents say they will continue to enforce federal laws that ban the use of pot.

Chief Daniel Hiebert told The Portland Press Herald that Border Patrol agents will confiscate marijuana when they find it. He added that agents aren’t actively looking for the drug, though.

Hiebert maintains that enforcing federal marijuana laws will not distract agents from their focus on terrorism and human and drug trafficking.

Since 2012, Maine Border Patrol agents have confiscated about 720 pounds of marijuana. In the past, the federal government has declined to prosecute those cases.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Authorities are warning flood victims in Houston that Homeland Security impersonators are telling residents to evacuate before burglarizing their homes.

In response, Houston officials are urging residents to ask for officials’ badges and credentials before taking orders, the Associated Press reports. 

The city also notified residents that ICE won’t be conducting immigration enforcement operations in the area, including at shelters.

The hurricane’s death toll has reached at least 18 and is expected to climb.

James Fields is accused of driving into a group of anti-racists, killing one person and injuring many more.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Three days before clashes broke out during the deadly Charlottesville rally on Aug. 12, Homeland Security issued a warning to law enforcement about the high probability that the event would be “among the most violent to date” between white supremacists and anti-racists.

Politico reports that it obtained a copy of the Aug. 9 “law enforcement sensitive” assessment. 

The warning by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis raises questions about law enforcement’s preparation for the violence that would erupt.

The report reminded authorities that similar protests involving white supremacists and anti-racist extremists turned violent.

“Anarchist extremists and white supremacist extremists online are calling on supporters to be prepared for or to instigate violence at the 12 August rally,” the assessment warned.

The report also indicated that a “probable” white supremacist had posted a “call to arms” online, saying “antifa must be destroyed.

“They predicted it,” one senior law enforcement analyst from another state said of the assessment. Each side was saying, “’All right everybody, go get your weapons, and we’re gonna go kick their asses.’ And that’s exactly what happened in Charlottesville.”

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