I’m gonna take an unpopular position: I think the FBI groomed this idiot in order to produce good PR for the FBI. There was no need for the plot to go as far as it did, nobody to catch besides the guy they’d already caught. If the object of the exercise wasn’t making the FBI look like they’d ‘saved’ Portland, what was it?
I think I’ll take the popular position, thank you for your comments...and say that they aren’t comprehensible.
For one thing, they had to wait for the kid to try to detonate the “explosives” to have a makeable case against him. It’s kinda like the FBI agents who pose as kids to trap pedophiles. They have to have actionable proof. Did you know that they tried to talk the kid out of it?
Too, why would the FBI do that in a city that has rejected being part of the Terrorist Task Force? Were I a member of the FBI, I would say let them burn, and let them come to us for help.
I agree completely with your assessment.
I suppose they are stuck between a rock and a hard spot. Can't justify constant surveillance of a potential jihadi forever, so this type of sting plugs a budget black hole while producing positive PR that can be used to justify the budget (or a budget increase).
I'm just glad their little "black ops" didn't blow up in their faces like it did at Waco and Ruby Ridge.