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Posted on 08/02/2013 7:28:18 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
This story got a lot of buzz on the Internets today, as it seemed to suggest that the dragnetting of America’s phone metadata and browsing habits via Prism by NSA might be resulting in young couples with simultaneous interests in new pressure cookers and backpacking were being raided by armed law enforcement.
The blogger in question is Michele Catalano, who some of you may remember from her blog, “A Small Victory,” on which she wrote during the mid-2000s. As the story evolved throughout the day, police released a statement clarifying that it wasn’t NSA’s dragnetting that got her family ensnared but the “see something say something” impulse of an employer on whose computer the above Googling occurred.
Here is Catalano’s account of her experience, which she theorized had something to do with her family’s Googling habits, based on the questioning her husband got. Read the whole thing because she’s a good writer:
What happened was this: At about 9:00 am, my husband, who happened to be home yesterday, was sitting in the living room with our two dogs when he heard a couple of cars pull up outside. He looked out the window and saw three black SUVs in front of our house; two at the curb in front and one pulled up behind my husband’s Jeep in the driveway, as if to block him from leaving.
Six gentleman in casual clothes emerged from the vehicles and spread out as they walked toward the house, two toward the backyard on one side, two on the other side, two toward the front door.
A million things went through my husband’s head. None of which were right. He walked outside and the men greeted him by flashing badges. He could see they all had guns holstered in their waistbands.
“Are you [name redacted]?” one asked while glancing at a clipboard. He affirmed that was indeed him, and was asked if they could come in. Sure, he said.
They asked if they could search the house, though it turned out to be just a cursory search. They walked around the living room, studied the books on the shelf (nope, no bomb making books, no Anarchist Cookbook), looked at all our pictures, glanced into our bedroom, pet our dogs. They asked if they could go in my son’s bedroom but when my husband said my son was sleeping in there, they let it be.
Meanwhile, they were peppering my husband with questions. Where is he from? Where are his parents from? They asked about me, where was I, where do I work, where do my parents live. Do you have any bombs, they asked. Do you own a pressure cooker? My husband said no, but we have a rice cooker. Can you make a bomb with that? My husband said no, my wife uses it to make quinoa. What the hell is quinoa, they asked.
They searched the backyard. They walked around the garage, as much as one could walk around a garage strewn with yardworking equipment and various junk. They went back in the house and asked more questions.
Have you ever looked up how to make a pressure cooker bomb? My husband, ever the oppositional kind, asked them if they themselves weren’t curious as to how a pressure cooker bomb works, if they ever looked it up. Two of them admitted they did.
The Suffolk County Police Department, who made the visit to Catalano, later released this statement explaining how her family came to be targeted:
Suffolk County Criminal Intelligence Detectives received a tip from a Bay Shore based computer company regarding suspicious computer searches conducted by a recently released employee. The former employee’s computer searches took place on this employee’s workplace computer. On that computer, the employee searched the terms “pressure cooker bombs” and “backpacks.”
After interviewing the company representatives, Suffolk County Police Detectives visited the subject’s home to ask about the suspicious internet searches. The incident was investigated by Suffolk County Police Department’s Criminal Intelligence Detectives and was determined to be non-criminal in nature.
Catalano said the cops cleared out in 45 minutes after a pretty casual, cursory search, but that it left her slightly shaken. I’m glad to hear that there was a step between the Googling and the reporting of the Googling— that Googling directly intercepted by the feds or local terrorism task force was not the impetus for this search. But I’m not sure how to feel about this, also from Catalano’s account.
They mentioned that they do this about 100 times a week. And that 99 of those visits turn out to be nothing. I don’t know what happens on the other 1% of visits and I’m not sure I want to know what my neighbors are up to.
I’m really glad they’re investigating terrorism leads to keep people safe, and am thankful every time one of these investigations turns up a would-be Tsarnaev. But I also know that armed police inquiries at your door can get pretty out of hand pretty fast. Misunderstandings and bad judgment calls far too often leads to accidental shootings and puppycide. I don’t blame Catalano for feeling taken aback. Six cops in several cars at the porch of your home, looking for you, never exactly feels like a “no harm, no foul” moment. This is what the trade-offs look like, and we have to decide if we’re comfortable with them.
"Sure; may I see your warrant? You don't have one? Then you may leave now. You are trespassing."
No, I'm not comfortable with this trade-off. Not even a little bit.
Very different than what whas reported yesterday.
It looks like her old company was just being cautious.
If six plainly dressed guys get out of unmarked cars and approach my house, I am going to very seriously wonder about their intentions.
“and was asked if they could come in. Sure, he said.”
No warrant needed
:: three black SUVs in front of our house; two at the curb in front and one pulled up behind my husband’s Jeep in the driveway ::
To start, the gentlemen should have been met on the front porch, 1911 in the homeowners hand, and told to move the vehicle that was trespassing in the driveway.
Next, ALL members would be commanded to appear on the fron line and questions will be answered there. The front door will be locked and the key pocketed.
It looks like her old company was just being cautious.
Assuming they weren't, um, pressured into providing their betters in The Government a fig-leaf.
Of all the people who've ever googled both "pressure cookers" and "backpacks" in the last year, Our Betters decide to noisily investigate a blogger?
Methinks they are trying to intimidate us into thinking we're all under the microscope. That would also explain why they so publicly demanded everyone's passwords from ISPs last week.
Pure Kabuki for the masses.
Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!
To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don’t add you to the list...
How would the government know to pressure the comapny.
I think this is just a blogger turning time theft from her company into a publicity stunt.
This person has no survival instincts. There are so many things wrong with what he/she did.
1) Don’t let them in without warrant.
2) Using google. Don’t use google or bing, or yahoo, etc. Use Startpage or another search that encrypts the searches, and can encrypt the page visits.
3) If you are really paranoid, disguise the searchs with other words to make it seem innocuous.
4) Don’t use work computers for ANYTHING personal. Wait until you get home, where you can be protected by personal VPNs, and other encryption tools.
5) Don’t let them in without warrant.
6) Don’t let them in without warrant.
These people don’t have a clue...
Another bummer .... I really do need a pc for canning. I have not done any on-line searches since it appears lots of ‘monitoring’ of some sort is going on, nor have I purchased one yet because I would imagine stores might be reporting purchases of these items to some authority somewhere. If I eventually buy one, it will be using cash.
The comment by Mary K. Ham that the story is well written is nonsense. It appears the subject searched pressure cookers. Her husband searched backpacks. And the story says one was recently let go and the Google searches for pressure cookers and backpacks were done at work from the same IP address. Yet, the story says she looked for pressure cookers and he looked for backpacks. One of the couple was recently let go. Unless both worked for the same company in the same cubical, the logic just doesn't follow. Crappy writing.
That I agree with.
But he did, and did so willingly.
This is all a stunt to bring them publicity.
ANYONE believing this Admin when they tell us they are not reading your emails or your web browsing?????
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