Text Message Brands Quebec Man a Terror Suspect

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Text Message Brands Quebec Man a Terror Suspect

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday February 4, 2012 @12:21PM from the rooting-for-the-habs-will-do-that dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Saad Allami likely never expected that a simple text message of encouragement would have turned his life upside down. But as seen in a similar case of absurd overreaction by authorities, a simple text message is all it takes to have yourself branded as a terrorist. From the article: 'The Quebec man says he was arrested by provincial police while picking up his seven-year-old son at school. A team of police officers stormed into his home, telling his wife she was married to a terrorist. And his work colleagues were detained for hours at the U.S. border because of their connection to him.'"

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What was it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-04 12:22 · Score: 4, Insightful

What were the contents of the text message? That seems like sort of a key point.
1. Re:What was it? by jamstar7 · 2012-02-04 13:26 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  With a name like Saad Allami you just know he was being profiled.
  
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  Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
2. Re:What was it? by meerling · 2012-02-04 13:30 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  "Allami says he sent the text message in French and used the word ''exploser,'' a term he claims is commonly used in finance to mean grow or succeed."
  
  Bet it was picked up by english keyword software or 'examined' by an english speaker that obviously doesn't understand french idioms/slang, so he googled it, and found the wrong definition.
  Basic moron level knee-jerking.
3. Re:What was it? by meerling · 2012-02-04 13:31 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  more likely? Considering they went ballistic on one misinterpreted word in a text message, I'd say they it's 100% positive they were spying on him.
4. Re:What was it? by hairyfeet · 2012-02-04 13:39 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Ya know, we all make fun of them when they do obvious dumbshit like this, but how much of this is typical corporate CYA that always happens when somebody fucks up? I mean they ignored the guys learning to fly a plane and not land it which now looks pretty fucking stupid but at that time, when the only thing any terrorist had ever done with a plane was demand it take him to Cuba? Compared to what they had on their plates it probably wasn't seen as a big whoop.
  Well now here we are, and after millions spent in investigation on how they could have missed 9/11 i have no problem thinking they may go completely overboard in the other direction in a classic case of CYA. Again while not condoning this obvious dumbshit maneuver given the circumstances you can see why it happens, nobody wants to be labeled the next guy that "ZOMFG you fucked up and let them attack us you monster!" so here we go.
  
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  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
5. Re:What was it? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-04 14:18 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  So yes, if you only see that sentence alone by itself, it will make you want to go and arrest the man.
  Really? Seeing that would make you want to have this man arrested? You are just as bloody bad as the authorities there!
  Do you honestly think a genuine terrorist would right out say in a text message to an accomplice that they are going to blow something up? Do you honestly think they are that naive and that stupid?
  geez....
6. Re:What was it? by deanklear · 2012-02-04 14:47 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Compared to what they had on their plates it probably wasn't seen as a big whoop.
  Don't paper over our intelligence failures. The title of the memo to the President of the US was "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the US." Bin Laden was, at that time, the head of an organization that had already carried out terrorist attacks against the United States in Kenya, as well as the bombing of the USS Cole. He wasn't a sales manager in Montreal.
  If our governments are going to assume that we are all terrorists until proven innocent, the war on terror is over. We lost.
7. Re:What was it? by deanklear · 2012-02-04 15:18 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yes, that's a much more plausible explanation than poorly trained terrorists trying the same plot again and succeeding because of a massive American intelligence bureaucracy that wasn't quick enough to adapt...
  Turn off the Alex Jones and go outside.
8. Re:What was it? by AHuxley · 2012-02-04 15:22 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  A genuine bad person would have direct or 2nd gen state/covert training. They know to stay off any 'phone' due to voice prints, call logs, camera, gps, unique embedded photo codes and risks spyware been pushed onto the phone.
  A phone is an open mic, a log of all your contacts and links you to people who might have sold out, been turned or just been lazy or unlucky.
  
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  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
9. Re:What was it? by dbIII · 2012-02-04 15:26 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  when the only thing any terrorist had ever done with a plane was demand it take him to Cuba
  It was so obvious it was in a Tom Clancy book and an X-Files spinoff. Both being unashamedly derivative products it came from a lot of other places before that.
10. Re:What was it? by hairyfeet · 2012-02-04 15:46 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Yes but I wonder how much of it is 'pretend it isn't there and the monster might go away" wishful thinking? i mean in ANY small town you have enough chemicals that mixed in the right way would be an instant nightmare, see OKC for an example, yet we simply can't survive without those very same chemicals. Frankly I'm amazed we haven't had some nutjob set off a nuke yet as the gun design is VERY crude and with the fall of the USSR there have been plenty of reports of shit just turning up gone.
  Frankly I think the ONLY thing that has saved our asses so far is terrorists are like most criminals and REALLY fucking stupid. We are in serious fucking trouble if they ever figure out how to recruit people with a brain because frankly all this security theater crap would be trivially avoided by anybody with a brain, lucky for us what they get is morons like the underwear bomber. But if they had to actually lock down all the different things that could create mass destruction frankly the whole country would be in gridlock. The best they can do is hope they can trip over the right intel at the right time of they do something really fucking stupid like brag about their plans on some jihad channel on the net. Because the world we have now simply wasn't designed with "Hey can this be used by a nutjob with a cause against us?" in mind.
  
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  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
11. Re:What was it? by Runaway1956 · 2012-02-04 16:12 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I like this guy, already. He isn't suing for millions, he is suing for $100,000. And, he wants a certificate of good conduct so that he can work in the field of his choosing. Obviously, he wants to embarrass the fools responsible. Sounds like a reasonable guy to me. I get so disgusted with people who have a legitimate greivance, but blow it all out of proportion by suing for tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. It's like, "Oh, these guys insulted me - I should never have to work again! Set me up with luxury homes, luxury cars, furs, diamonds, yachts and private jets!"
  
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  "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
12. Re:What was it? by ZorinLynx · 2012-02-04 18:03 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  >We are in serious fucking trouble if they ever figure out how to recruit people with a brain
  The thing is, 99.99% of "people with a brain" are smart enough to realize that terrorism is always a bad idea.
  The 0.01% who happen to be smart but not smart enough to avoid being terrorists tend to be the leaders like Bin Laden.
13. Re:What was it? by cyber-vandal · 2012-02-04 23:36 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I'm not gonna bother coming to the US from the UK either:
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16810312
Much worse by Squiddie · 2012-02-04 12:23 · Score: 5, Insightful

They arrested him because of a simple text message, not because any actions that he took. Just speech. That's a lot worse, if you ask me.
1. Re:Much worse by Anonymous Coward · 2012-02-04 12:39 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It doesn't matter. Here is how the average idiot American (the people who end up on JURIES - which is fucking TERRIFYING) perceives something like this:
  "He's obviously guilty - otherwise the government wouldn't be looking into him."
2. Re:Much worse by ark1 · 2012-02-04 12:44 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  I doubt it was simply a text message and more likely a chain of events that ended with the text message. Maybe this is a case of mistaken identity but I can bet someone with that name must have been on some sort of watch list for doing questionable activities or associating with questionable people. I doubt we will ever know the full story.
Nations of Cowards by swbirding · 2012-02-04 12:33 · Score: 5, Insightful

The US and Canada have become such cowardly nations that anything can be made into a threat.
1. Re:Nations of Cowards by cold+fjord · 2012-02-04 14:21 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Well, anything except actual threats. We are continually told on Slashdot that they don't exist despite continuing arrests and convictions. The lack of terrorist attacks isn't because there aren't terrorists, or that they don't wish to attack, but because they have been generally foiled to date due to good intelligence, hard work, and luck.
  North of the border:
  Canadian Charged in Iraq Bombing
  Few Details Given as 4 Canadians Are Held in Terrorist Plot
  Alleged terrorist arrested at Pearson
  Canadian police arrest couple on terrorism charges
  Government links boat passengers to terrorism, arrests made
  Terror Arrests Reveal Reach of Canada's Surveillance Powers
  South of the border:
  FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 27, 2012
  Denver: Man Arrested for Providing Material Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization
  Baltimore: Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction in Plot to Attack Armed Forces Recruiting Center
  Washington Field: Man Pleads Guilty to Shootings at Pentagon, Other Military Buildings
  FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 13, 2012
  Tampa: Florida Resident Charged with Plotting to Bomb Locations in Tampa
  Baltimore: Former Army Solider Charged with Attempting to Provide Material Support to al Shabaab
  FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending December 9, 2011
  Seattle: Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Attack Military Processing Center
  FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending December 2, 2011
  San Diego: Woman Guilty of Conspiring to Provide Material Support to al Shabaab
  More here.
  Keep in mind that Al Qeda has called off attacks that would have likely killed hundreds or thousands of people because they weren't spectacular enough for their tastes. ( New York Subway Plot and al-Qaeda's WMD Strategy )
  
  --
  much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Ask The Right Questions... by IonOtter · 2012-02-04 12:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

We need to be asking the right questions here:
He made the tweet on Jan 21, and he was picked up three days later. That is an incredibly fast turnaround for law enforcement, even for the US or Canada. They were throwing the T-word around like it was a known fact, all while terrorizing his wife and co-workers.
So, let's ask some useful questions.
1. How long have the authorities been monitoring this man?
2. WHY have they been monitoring him?
3. WHY did they go after his co-workers?
The answers are bound to be exceptionally interesting and frightening.

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Re:Yup by TheGratefulNet · 2012-02-04 13:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

So if a guy solicits you in a bathroom, you'll have to assume it's a DHS agent.
the hell with that: if some guy approaches me in a restroom, I'm assuming he's a republican and I'm running for my life!

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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Re:The text message is the least of my worries by Sowelu · 2012-02-04 15:57 · Score: 5, Insightful

Don't send your buddies a text about metaphorically blowing people away at a trade convention, just because they're getting on a plane soon? You have to be shitting me. Sorry, I don't live in a reality where that's common sense. I won't stop flying because I'm afraid of terrorists blowing up my plane, and I won't stop sending perfectly ordinary text messages because I'm afraid of the authorities coming after me. You are a degenerate coward.