This is an update to my reports below about Benjamin J Smith and his alleged shooting of 5 antifas and his alleged killing of 1 of them on February 19, 2022 in Portland Oregon. It is being reported that the F.B.I. had been aware of his apparent potential for violence and contacted him in 2021. Whatever view we may hold of the F.B.I. and their actions with regard to Benjamin J Smith, his social media content did contain signs that he might one day shoot people. This can be seen in the 2nd and 3rd of my reports below.
As I have remarked, it is surprising that he did not kill people years ago. OPB reported that…
months before the shooting
Smith was contacted…
by the FBI, due to concerns about his state of mind and potential for violence, according to his former roommate and a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation
They report further more…
When the FBI contacted Smith in 2021, it had already received multiple tips over many years that he might be dangerous. People who met him in online furry communities — groups of people who share an interest in anthropomorphic animals — told OPB that Smith seemed violent and said they had reported him to the FBI in the past. Months after being contacted by the FBI, Smith, 43, would stand accused of shooting five people with a handgun at a peaceful protest on Feb. 19 in Normandale Park. One person died and another became paralyzed.
Benjamin Jeffery Smith appears in court by video for his arraignment on charges, including murder, attempted murder and assault with a firearm, on March 24, 2022, in Portland, Ore. Smith allegedly shot five people - one died and one became paralyzed - during a February racial justice protest at Normandale Park.Screenshot via pool video / KGW
Several people who knew Smith told OPB that they contacted the FBI to file complaints about the alleged future shooter’s violent and threatening behavior. The earliest of those warnings were sent as far back as 2006.
Kristine Christensen, Smith’s roommate, told OPB that, rather than deter his behavior, the 2021 contact with the FBI was a source of boastful pride for Smith.
Smith talked about “how the FBI contacted him out of concern for possible terrorist stuff,” Christensen said in an interview. “He took it as a proud thing, but it was also one of those things where I was like, ‘I wish they would have investigated you further.’”
A law-enforcement source familiar with the investigation who declined to speak on the record about an ongoing investigation confirmed to OPB that Smith was contacted by the FBI.
Smith’s defense attorney declined to comment.
Further down they write…
Determining what to do with people like Smith, whose behavior suggests they might commit a violent crime, is a question that has plagued the FBI for years, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.
“An assessment may detect a potential threat, but facts and evidence may not be sufficient under current law to imprison someone or deprive them of their rights,” said Renn Cannon, the FBI special agent who was in charge of the Portland field office from February 2017 to January 2021. “The bar is set pretty high.”
Further down…
The FBI declined multiple requests for comment about whether agents made inquiries or had investigated Smith prior to the shooting.
“Unfortunately it’s an ongoing matter and we’re not able to talk about ongoing matters at this point,” Kieran Ramsey, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Portland office, told OPB during a June interview.
As can be seen in my reports, OPB is correct when they report…
Smith had a long-established reputation for espousing violence and making threats online. His violent behavior and signs of mental health struggles go back more than a decade.
They report furthermore…
Smith’s lawyer declined to comment on his client’s case. Smith’s brother, Aurthur Killion, told OPB he was unaware of the FBI contact. Killion said Smith had had issues with protesters in the neighborhood but otherwise seemed fine when they spoke about a week before the Normandale Park shooting.
Also, they write…
A member of the furry community who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retribution told OPB they reported the chats to the FBI through its online tip site soon after the chats were posted.
…and…
On multiple occasions throughout 2006 and 2007, Ariadne Conill, a software engineer who has never met Smith and doesn’t live in Oregon, reported Smith to the FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center, called IC3. Issuing threats online through social media, email or text messages is a federal crime, and can be reported through IC3′s online portal.
Conill said Smith became irate and started harassing her and her friends online after she had helped create a digital media player that replaced an older program Smith used.
“He was doxxing people, and then he was like, ‘I’m going to go on a road trip, and I’m gonna stab you,’” Conill said that Smith told them. “This was an ongoing thing and multiple people, including myself, who were the recipients of his behavior contacted IC3.gov.”
Conill said they never received any follow-up from the FBI on their complaints.
This report goes on to repeat the spurious claim that Smith praised Nazis. As shown in my reports, when he did mention Nazis, he made it clear he opposed them. Still, they claim that…
Anti-fascist researchers discovered Smith was well known in the furry community for praising Nazis
…and…
Smith’s online activity is rife with…Nazi sympathies, and anger towards the Black Lives Matter movement.
First of all, they are mislabeling Antifa as anti-fascist. That’s like calling the People’s Republic of North Korea a people’s republic. Secondly, this report offers not one shred of evidence that he praised Nazis. I, however, show you archives of Smith setting himself in opposition to Nazis on social media in my reports above. This is not to say that he was a good person.
They go on to preach at length against the right to bare arms.
In a written statement to KOIN 6 News on Thursday, the FBI said agents spoke with Benjamin Smith after they received tips about him, but ultimately abandoned any “further investigative actions” based on information they had at the time.
“The FBI previously received information from the public regarding Benjamin Smith,” the bureau said. “The FBI spoke to Benjamin Smith in 2021 and based upon applicable federal guidelines, no further investigative actions were taken based upon the available information.”
In the same statement, the FBI said it only investigates individuals based on illegal activity — or plans to do so — and not political views or other beliefs. It did not elaborate on how this pertained to Smith.
“The FBI takes care to distinguish between constitutionally-protected activities and illegal activities undertaken to further an ideological agenda,” the bureau said in the statement. “The FBI has the authority to conduct an investigation when it has reasonable grounds to believe that an individual has engaged in criminal activity or is planning to do so. This authority is based on the illegal activity, not on the individual’s political views, position, or any other beliefs.”
Notice that according to those words, the FBI considers thinking about committing a crime to be a crime. In other words, thoughtcrime. I am astounded that anyone, any common idiot, could make such a profoundly wrong statement publicly like that. But when such a statement comes from the a government agent like the FBI, it is alarming. It seems to be a proud brag coming from an irredeemably corrupt agency. They are precisely what Orwell warned us about when he included the concept of thoughtcrime in 1984. If the state has the power to target people because the state claims they were thinking about committing crimes, that power is guaranteed to be abused.
The state is not ethical, so it has no concern for right or wrong. The state is not competent or qualified to make such decisions, so it can not distinguish between correct or incorrect. The state is very often a machine, a tool used, nay, abused by partisans to fight their competition. It can never be trusted to know right from wrong or to care. Thoughtpolice should never exist. When a government agency can say such a thing publicly and unashamed, as if it were acceptable, that agency must be ended immediately and with an extremity that would serve as an effective warning sign against all others who would also police thought if they had the power to do so.
People who want such power should never be allowed to get it. Society must be aware of and wary of people who want such power.
Never let those who want power over other people to get it.
