They bought 60 cell phones.
Attack incoming.
The cops let them go. Blood on their hands.
Let them go - but make sure the FBI has all 60 numbers. Start tracking them, now. Build up that database of where the phones are when they are on, what phones are in proximity to them, what phones call them or are called by them... This is a chance for an intel bonanza. Though these guys are obviously pretty stupid / untrained. You don’t do something like this that will obviously attract attention. In that light, it may have been a simple test to gauge the reaction/response...
If our government cared about protecting us from terrorists, they’d have tagged every single one of those phones as a future intelligence asset. Given the (in)competence of our feral government, at every level, I doubt that happened.
It’s not illegal to buy 60 phones but I sure hope they followed them after they left the store.
What could the police have held them for?
Macon, Columbia, Jefferson City, Lebanon, Ava, Jackson and Cape Girardeau.
Cops shouldn’t have arrested them. Have the FBI (mental giants, not) monitor everywhere they go and who they see. Track the phones. Pull up their NSA file and use the NSA for what it was intended. Force ICE and Homeland to vet them for real this time and everyone they have contact with.
Yeah, that’ll never happen.