Posted on 01/08/2017 9:26:23 AM PST by Beautiful_Gracious_Skies
The Anchorage man accused in the mass shooting at a Florida airport Friday did not have ties to a terrorist organization when he was investigated last year, the FBI said at a news conference Saturday in Anchorage. Law enforcement said he had exhibited mental health problems during an incident at the Anchorage FBI office that led local police to take his gun.
... the Anchorage Police Department said it later returned the gun to Esteban Santiago, 26, after the weapon had been logged into evidence for safekeeping. "I want to be clear, during our investigation, we found no known ties to terrorism," FBI Anchorage Field Office Special Agent in Charge Marlin Ritzman said during the short news conference. "He had broken no laws when he came into our office making disjointed comments about mind control."
The U.S. Justice Department: Santiago was charged with several federal crimes in connection with the shooting at the .. Airport. He could face the death penalty or life in prison.
At the Anchorage news conference, Ritzman said Santiago had told agents in November at the Anchorage FBI office that his "mind was being controlled by a U.S. intelligence agency,"... APD Chief Chris Tolley said after Santiago told the FBI about how his mind was being controlled, police took a firearm from Santiago for safekeeping. The gun was later returned to Santiago after he was released from a mental health facility in Anchorage. "There are speculations that this is the same gun" used in the Florida shooting, -not received confirmation that it, in fact, is that gun."
[What we know about Esteban Santiago, the suspect in Florida airport shooting]
'Terroristic thoughts' and 'being influenced by ISIS'
Anchorage police had repeated contact with Santiago throughout 2016, Tolley said Saturday, including for at least four physical disturbances from January through October. Only one, in January 2016, resulted in an arrest warrant.
In February, Tolley said, Santiago violated the conditions of his release from the January domestic violence charges and was arrested again. Santiago was not arrested after any of the other physical disturbances, one in March and two in October, Tolley said.
On Nov. 7, when he showed up at the FBI field office with concerns about mind control, Ritzman said Santiago appeared "agitated, incoherent and made disjointed statements." Ritzman said Santiago told agents "he did not wish to harm anyone" but as a result of his erratic behavior, FBI agents contacted APD.
Tolley described the incident as a "mental health crisis." He said when city police officers arrived at the FBI building downtown, they were told by agents that Santiago was "asking for help" and was having "terroristic thoughts and believed he was being influenced by ISIS."
Santiago "had a loaded magazine on him" but left his firearm in his vehicle before contacting agents,...Santiago's newborn child was also in the vehicle. Police transported Santiago to a mental health facility where he was admitted, Tolley said.
Ritzman said the FBI had subpoenaed Santiago's mental health records. He declined to answer where Santiago was held and for how long, citing the ongoing investigation. During the incident at the FBI office, local police logged Santiago's weapon into evidence, Tolley said. Santiago tried to retrieve his gun 23 days later on Nov. 30, but did not get it that day. The weapon was released to him Dec. 8, Tolley said.
Karen Loeffler, U.S. Attorney for Alaska, ... said there was no legal basis in federal law to prevent Santiago from having the firearm. The FBI closed its assessment of Santiago "after conducting database reviews and interagency checks," Ritzman said.
On Friday, armed with search warrants, agents searched two places where Santiago had lived — a small house in Fairview that he shared with his girlfriend and his child, and the Qupqugiaq Inn on 36th Avenue in Midtown. On Saturday, the authorities offered no new details on what they had found — if anything — during the investigation.
...Ritzman said there was no indication Santiago was working with others in the airport shooting and Anchorage isn't facing any known threat....Santiago's reasons for traveling to Florida, [undetermined.]
Anchorage police contact with Santiago: at least four physical disturbances from January - October. The first resulted in an arrest warrant.
November 7, he goest to the FBI with his story. After being released from the hospital for mental health observation or treatment, he tried to get the gun back November 30. His gun was released to him December 8th, 30 days after it was seized.
Qupqugiaq Inn where Santiago stayed when not at the girlfriend's house is $60 per night, and near the airport.
Bunch of people need to be fired. This guy had mental issues, has an Islamic name, was apparently Islamic, claimed some twisted affiliation, and so forth. That he ad adopted Islam should have been enough to put him on no-fly list, the rest? Incredible competence.
Isn’t interesting how quickly this information came out? Within minutes of the shooting, Sen. Bill Nelson (RAT-FL) was already out there spouting this stuff.
Oh, they don't know? Not buying it. No sale.
I tried a divorce case once where possession of three guns was an issue. I played a voice mail of the husband in which he threatened to kill not only his wife but me. The judge awarded him the guns. Fortunately I had had the guns taken to a gun store for storage by my then partner who was/is rabidly anti-gun. LOL So he’s a registered gun owner for life but I digress.... and it took about six months for this former partner through hearings involving the gun shop owner to get the guns back to the ex-husband. And also fortunately the ex-husband got back on his meds.
So either the FBI and DHS are preposterously incompetent,or they are COMPLICIT!!!.
This animal walked into an FBI office and stated that he had jihadist tendencies-STRIKE ONE.
This guys employer reported him to the FBI-STRIKE TWO.
Who the hell is responsible for maintaining the no fly/terror watch list, and what exactly do you have to do to get on it, because obviously this scumbag, a known jihadist mental defective with military training , was allowed to fly FROM ALASKA TO FLORIDA WITH A GUN AND AMMO!!!-STRIKE THREE
Heads need to roll, this is not going to get swept under the rug, NOT THIS TIME!!!!!
What year was that and what state?
The FBI appears to be unable to search social media to evaluate threats. FR posts are quite clear that the guy was a developing threat.
Long ago in a galaxy far far away. :-D Frankly I don’t remember the year.
What in tarnation does this mean? He went into the building and left his newborn in the vehicle? Or was he accompanied by his newborn?
Uh huh.
The “gun” part of this terrorist attack is kind of a non issue with me. When someone has made up their mind to do something like this, they will find a way. The means is the easy part. Had this guy not had a firearm, he would either have purchased one, stolen one, used a motor vehicle,home made bomb instead,etc. The biggest loss of life due to a terrorist attack was perpetrated with box cutters. Most people in this country live in densely populated areas. It is easy to come up with a means to kill a number of people. And in some cases, it can’t be prevented, although tighter restrictions on who gets in the country, along with better evaluation of those who have been detained would help..IMHO..
Mining down even deeper, the real cause of 911 was D.C. loser leadership and their terrible reckless chain immigration policies, after we'd already been attacked and repeatedly threatened by these same people and their terrorist organizations. Also see the brutal San Bernardino Christmas party massacre where government again literally imported mass murdering terrorist into our towns and cities.
My point is you’re correct, the weapon is a lesser factor, but government’s reckless dangerous chain immigration policies are at the heart of many of these brutal attacks. Not to mention the more they welcome in, the more they’ll convert easily influenced individuals.
Good post.
If we have to have “no fly lists” and “background checks” to fight terror and protect the snowflakes while we exercise our rights, we should also be sincere enough to put any individual on those lists for terrorism and or mental health crises.
PTSD makes sense here but more than likely schizophrenia seem to be at play and if we cannot have mental health professionals take the steps to add his name to the list of people who cannot have a gun, or get his gun back from police confiscation, then the background check process makes no sense.
Alaska dropped the ball here, but almost everywhere our government seems to show a very unserious side when it comes to rooting out this evil. Can we really place all the blame on the present administration? Is Alaska a sanctuary state for Islam?
Note: He tried to get the gun back from LEO on Nov 30. DJT was headed to Palm Beach for THX & Christmas. Anchorage police made Santiago wait until Dec 8 for his gun.
Dec 8- A plane ticket booked 2 weeks before Christmas would have been near impossible. Likely, $1,800 or more to S. Florida, assuming he could find one. The flights were already sold out from Alaska, so maybe Santiago booked the first ticket available that he could afford to Florida. Palm Beach would have been sold out, as well.
Frustrations upon him, Trump is long gone. So he goes to his -plan B. Shoot-up whatever he could since it was seeded in his head and he felt compelled to act.
That is one plausible theory on why he chose Ft. Lauderdale airport. And perhaps he meant to target Palm Beach airport, but couldn’t afford or find a ticket to that destination.
Also-If he has been paying attention to islam for at least ten years, Santiago may have known that 15 of the 19 terrorists lived and plotted in South Florida the year prior to 9/11/01. Mohammed Atta lived in Delray Beach. Maybe he FLL as unfinished business, who knows.
It would be great to know when he had purchased his plane ticket. Or if he had attempted to book one for Thanksgiving weekend and how he paid for the ticket. That is key.
It would explain why Santiago is not saying why he chose a South Florida airport.
Interesting.
I’m not sure it would have been that hard to book a ticket during that time frame. Our son managed it.
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