David P. Gelios

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

There’s some shuffling going on in the bureau.

FBI Director James Comey announced the following:

• David P. Gelios will be the new special agent in charge of the Detroit Division. He replaces Paul Abbates, who will head up the Washington Field Office.
• Aristedes Mahairas is the new special agent in charge of the Special Operations/Cyber Division of the New York Field Office.
• Harold H. Shaw is the new special agent in charge of the Boston Division.
• Carlos T. Fernandez is the new special agent in charge of the Counterterrorism Division of the New York Field Office.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A former DEA agent clashed with a Black Lives Matter organizer who called for “frying” police.

The verbal confrontation broke out on CNN after Rashad Turner said his group was not supporting violence when they chanted, “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon.”

Turner said the group was referring to holding police accountable for violating the rights of citizens, BizPack Review reports. 

Former DEA Special Agent David Katz called it nonsense.

“When my fellow Americans are murdered in a church in South Carolina I weep,” Katz said. “When you start weeping for white cops who get shot down in Houston then I’ll be talking the same message you talk.”

Turner continued to insist that protesters did not condone violence against police/

“I’m not sure what a good cop is,” Turner insisted. “We’re getting hung up by this rhetoric that’s making white people uncomfortable or causing that discomfort. Every day as a black man I’m uncomfortable simply because of the color of my skin.”

Other Stories of Interest

• Russian Official Pleads Guilty Over $2M in ‘Corrupt’ Payments
• Former FBI Agent Joins K2 Cybersecurity Consulting Firm
• FBI Offers $50,000 Reward for Man Accused of Killing Girlfriend 20 Years Ago
• Justice Department Blasts Governor’s Decision to Defund Planned Parenthood
• White Powder Discovered at Oregon Justice Department Not Toxic

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A Kansas avionic technician who had restricted access to secure airport areas was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Monday for trying to detonate a car bomb at the airport in Wichita.

Terry Lee Loewen, 60, attempted to enter a secure area of Wichita Mid-Continental Airport to detonate the bomb when he was arrested in December 2013.

He was convicted of one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction on June 8.

“Terry Loewen abused his privileged airport access to attempt to perpetrate a terrorist attack in Wichita,” Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin said. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is protecting the United States against terrorist threats. We will continue to pursue justice against those who seek to carry out violent attacks against Americans, whether at home or abroad.”

The FBI was first made aware of Loewen after he became a Facebook friend of someone advocating terrorism.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Border Patrol has destroyed tapes that show “unconstitutional conditions of confinement” and even ignored a judge’s order to preserve the evidence, lawyers for migrants contend, Capital Media Services reports. 

Lawyers for migrants who sued the agency said people apprehended by Border Patrol were treated cruelly, denied access to adequate food and were confined to unsanitary conditions.

Late last month, Border Patrol acknowledged it was routinely recording over used videotapes, erasing evidence.

The federal government would not say why it disobeyed a judge’s orders.

Sheriff Parnell McNamara/Photo via McLennan County Sheriff’s Office

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A partnership between a sheriff’s office in Texas and Homeland Security has paid off so far, the Waco Tribune reports.

Just one week after the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office partnered with Homeland Security, officials announced the arrest of two people accused of human trafficking.

Homeland Security approached Sheriff Parnell McNamara to help crack down on human trafficking.

It was the first such partnership, the sheriff said.

“After I talked to commissioners court, we put everything in motion, and by noon we had run search warrants on this creep and found all sorts of child pornography in his house,” McNamara said of the first arrest made in connection to the partnership. “We had him thrown in jail. That’s how quick it worked.”

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A Chinese hacker is accused of penetrating the computer of a top former FBI lawyer, Newsweek reports. 

Marion “Spike” Bowman, who also leads an organization of retired American spies, said the hacking began with an innocuous-looking email.

“It was an email supposedly from a woman in China, and I exchanged correspondence with her a couple of times,” said Bowman, who was deputy general counsel to three FBI directors between 1995 and 2006. “She sent me a document that a friend of hers had supposedly written, in English, and wanted my opinion on it,” he told Newsweek.

“I never got around to replying, so I never heard from her again,” Bowman said.

After getting another message from China on his e-mail account at George Washington University, Bowman became suspicious and contacted the FBI.

A forensic examination of his computer “found a malware type that’s designed to find out what’s on my computer,” Bowman said.