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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – “I know you prefer the term ‘lone rat’ to ‘lone wolf.’ Should Americans be concerned about an increase in lone rat attacks,” WCCB News @ Ten anchor Morgan Fogarty asked FBI Director James Comey. His reply, “Yes.”Β
Comey is the FBI’s 7th director. He’s been on the job for 13 months. Charlotte was his 50th stop out of 56 field offices. He met with his staff and local law enforcement to talk, in part, about ISIL and how their focus is not the same as Al Qaeda and 9/11. Β Comey says, “The threat that I’m talking about, especially one that ISIL is trying to motivate, they just want to find people who will kill people anywhere.” Β He continues, “We have a very small window to spot them before they might emerge and kill innocent people.”Β
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ISIL uses the Internet very well to train and motivate American members. The Internet is also helping the FBI ID them. Just this week, the feds posted a video of a masked man, asking for help identifying him. Β The man is holding a gun, wearing a camouflage shirt and pants, his face is covered and he appears to have a North American accent. He speaks to the camera and says, in part, “The flames of war are only beginning to intensify. The fighting has just begun.”
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Comey says, “We’ve had plenty of responses. I’m not prepared to tell you what we make of the responses. I would ask that folks continue to stare at those pictures, listen to that voice.”Β
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Comey also talked about his efforts to force a conversation with Apple and Google about the next tech promise: cell phones that cannot be accessed by the government – not even with a court order. He says, “I’m not sure you wanna live in a neighborhood where there are apartments with closets that can never be opened, even with lawful authority. It’s those of us who have to investigate some of the darkest things people do to each other, wanting to have a conversation about do you really wanna go to a place where there are places in the United States that are beyond the law?”
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Comey says Charlotte is no more or less of a target for terrorism than anywhere else in the country. He does ask that if you see anything suspicious, to not ignore it or excuse it, but instead, call the FBI or local police. Β
