News Story
Is Border Patrol’s Drone Program Really Worth the Money?
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Is the Border Patrol’s use of drone worth the money? It’s a question raised and explored by a lengthy story in the Arizona Republic. The newspaper found that drones helped nab less than 3% of the drugs seized by agent over the past two fiscal years. By comparison, look at the…
Judge: Homeland Security violated FOIA by Refusing to Respond to Request for Records
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Homeland Security Department violated the Freedom of Information Act by refusing to disclose records about the telephone costs for immigrant detainees, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Chief Judge Marsha Penchman criticized the department for essentially ignoring a request from Prison Legal News, the Associated Press reports. The judge…
Las Cruces Sun-News: Border Patrol Should Not Police Itself After So Many Fatal Shootings
By Editorial Board Las Cruces Sun-News Two years ago, a scathing independent report by law enforcement experts found that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency had failed to fully investigate all 67 uses of deadly force, including 19 killings, by its agents from January 2010 through October 2012, most occurring along the southwest border…
Ex-Secret Service Agent Pleads Guilty to Stealing 820K from Silk Road Seizure
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A former Secret Service agent has pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin during an investigation of Silk Road, the Examiner.com reports. The former agent, Shaun W. Bridges, was accused of skimming $820,000 from the Silk Road seizure and was charged. The computer crime expert was…
FBI Investigates Website Belonging to Accused Charleston Shooter
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI is investigating a website that appears to belong to Dylan Roof, the 21-year-old white man accused of opening fire inside a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine people. The website, http://lastrhodesian.com/, includes fake photos of dead people and a racist manifesto that sounds like the ramblings…
Former FBI Agent Blasts Newly Declassified CIA Reports on 9/11
By Jeff Stein Newsweek WASHINGTON — Mark Rossini, a former FBI special agent at the center of an enduring mystery related to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, says he is “appalled” by the newly declassified statements by former CIA Director George Tenet defending the spy agency’s efforts to detect and stop the plot….
FBI: 3 Men Plotted Attack on Muhammad Cartoon Contest for Months
By Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The three men accused of plotting an attack at a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas had been making plans for months. The men were friends outside of a Phoenix mosque lighting off fireworks during a New Year’s Eve celebration when authorities said they expressed a desire to make pipe bombs,…