
Ask HN: FBI showed up at my house this morning. What to do? - abba_fishhead
Some background: I&#x27;m a citizen of a Muslim-majority country who migrated to the US to seek political asylum after being jailed by my government and hounded with death threats for insulting Islam. I&#x27;ve been living in the US for a year now, and in that time I&#x27;ve continued speaking up against Islam, the Qur&#x27;an, and the Hadiths.<p>Today 2 FBI special agents with badges showed up 7 a.m. in the morning, interviewed by neighbors and landlord, and finally spoke to me. This is roughly what they said:<p>&quot;You&#x27;re not in trouble. Based on uncorroborated sources, we have information that your life might be in danger from kidnapping by individuals with links to ISIL, and consequently your life is in danger. Try to reveal as little as possible about yourself to anyone or online, and move if possible. Here&#x27;s my number: XXX-XXX XXXX.&quot;<p>What I&#x27;m worried about is that they&#x27;re investigating me for other things and simply using a terrorist threat as a smokescreen.<p>How likely is it that they&#x27;re telling the truth? I&#x27;ve informed no one about this except my lawyer. Also, should I be worried about my safety? I have a pretty big following online that follows me largely for my Islam-bashing posts (80k likes on FB, and it&#x27;s even a verified account).<p>Should I also do anything now? I&#x27;ve never encountered this before, and I&#x27;m at a loss on how to react.
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pavornyoh
Stop posting online and go underground and vanish for a while. Although you
have a large following online, your safety is more important. If something
happens to you, you won't be able to post anyway and those large following
won't matter. Just disappear.

And when the FBI is investigating you, they don't need a smokescreen. I'd take
them seriously if I were in your shoes.

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pseingatl
1\. If you've been posting content similar to the Danish cartoons or Charlie
Hebdo's, your main worry is not the FBI.

2\. "Uncorroborated sources" means little. If there was an imminent threat
they would tell you.

3\. If you were in trouble, you would already be under arrest.

4\. This was a preliminary meeting to see if you have any interest in becoming
an informant for them. Expect that request to come soon.

5.If you've purchased grow house bulbs in the past six months or dozens of
packages of ephedrine, then rest assured that your online postings have
nothing to do with their visit.

If you are really concerned, here's a tip: lawyers are plentiful in the United
States. You are not eligible for a free lawyer, but call your local federal
court and ask for the names of attorneys who handle CJA appointments. Or call
the local chapter of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, or
contact their Washington office for a referral. Your new lawyer will quickly
discover the level of the Bureau's interest.

~~~
abba_fishhead
Thanks for the response.

1\. I post worse. I quote the Qur'an directly (verses on violence, sexism,
slavery) and receive death threats in return!

2\. If it means little, why even make the trip to my home?

3\. Good to know that too.

4\. I don't know anything about anyone, so how can I even be an informant?

5\. Not even sure what "house bulbs" or "ephedrine" are... so I guess I'm
safe?

~~~
AnimalMuppet
2\. They want you to start thinking about your safety, to start paying
attention to what's happening around you, and to start thinking about making
yourself harder to find. It's not an emergency, it's not a panic, but it's
time to start thinking and seeing what you can do (without totally messing up
your life). Do what you can now. Think about how you can be in a position to
do more.

5\. Drug growing or manufacturing supplies. It's fine if you don't get it.

------
wooster
Based on what you've said above, I would believe them. I have heard, second-
hand, of another person getting a very similar warning. That person is taking
it extremely seriously, and the FBI wouldn't have any credible ulterior
motives in investigating them. (Sorry I have to be so vague.)

------
mindcrime
I generally trust the FBI about as far as I can throw them, but given the
history of what ISIS has done, and given that you seem to have legitimately
made yourself a potential target, I'd say this sounds somewhat legitimate. In
either case, always talk to a lawyer before talking to the police, and
definitely take your personal safety seriously.

I don't know how you feel about guns, or even if you're eligible to own a gun
in the US (not sure how citizenship status affects that). But if possible, you
might considering purchasing a pistol and look into getting a concealed carry
permit (if required in your state). If you do, _get some training_ and take
training seriously.

Short of a gun, spending some time studying a martial art could be beneficial.
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and/or Krav Maga might be good choices. Escrima could also
be good... they put a lot of emphasis on "stick fighting" and you can
certainly legally own a stick... and that may be more acceptable if you oppose
guns on some kind of philosophical basis.

~~~
eimai134
There are mace guns available online for about $40 which have a pretty long
range. That might be a good option for protection if you can't or don't want
to get a gun. You'll have to check the laws in your town/state, but I think
you can concealed carry them anywhere.

~~~
mindcrime
Good point. A taser could also be a viable non-lethal alternative. Although
personally, if I thought I was a target for ISIS, being "non lethal" would be
the last concern on my mind. But mace or a taser may be more practical than a
gun for other reasons anyway, depending on the circumstances.

Another thought, as obvious as it may seem, is to suggest simply trying to
_not_ be alone as much as possible. "There's safety in numbers" as they say.
Maybe try to arrange to be in a (known friendly) crowd as much as possible.

~~~
eimai134
I don't know if this is justified, but if I'd gotten death threats I'd be more
worried about snipers than someone coming at me at close range. Your safety in
numbers advice would be very good in that case too. The issue I have with
Tasers is that they're as expensive as a gun and you only get one shot. I was
thinking of non-lethal options because I don't know if the person can carry a
gun if they aren't a citizen or if there are strict laws where he lives. If
the person can afford it, I'd suggest looking into a lightweight bullet-proof
vest as well.

~~~
phaus
It isn't justified. Excluding nation-state assassinations and a couple of
serial killers/mass murderers, people in this country generally aren't killed
via sniper rifle. The majority of gun-related murders involve small caliber
handguns like .22s, .38s, and 9mms.

>I'd suggest looking into a lightweight bullet-proof vest as well.

If you are worried about a sniper attack, lightweight bullet proof vests
aren't going to help you. They don't stop high-powered rifle rounds. The only
thing that stops high-powered rifle rounds would be the kind of body-armor the
military uses, with ceramic plates. I don't think OP wants to spend the rest
of his life wearing a 35lb vest. Fortunately, lightweight vests will stop
small caliber handguns.

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tlack
First thought: run like hell! Even if this is some kind of lie or trick, what
risk do you take by going on a vacation for a few weeks?

~~~
frigg
>what risk do you take by going on a vacation for a few weeks?

But what about afterwards? Assuming this to be true, you just return to normal
life after a few weeks?

~~~
AnimalMuppet
See, I don't think the warning is at that level. If he needed to go on
vacation for a few weeks, the FBI would say so. They (the FBI) don't think the
treat is at that level at this time.

------
rajacombinator
Uhhhh ... My gut reaction is usually anti feds but since in the case you
actually have a track record of receiving these death threats before ... to
the extent that it made you flee your home country ... it seems pretty legit.
What other activities are you involved with that you think are a more likely
reason for the FBI to show up at your door?

~~~
abba_fishhead
I'm not going to incriminate myself publicly, but let's just say .torrent
files exist on my PC.

~~~
yompers888
It's very unlikely that this has anything to do with your troubles. Unless you
distribute content to the extent that other nations have requested assistance
in stopping your operation, I can't imagine dispatching the FBI to deal with
that.

~~~
rajacombinator
Yes ... if it wasn't clear from context my question to the OP should have been
read with snark. This is a good time to apply Bayes's theorem.

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mhoad
Not totally convinced that this post was your best move in any way whatsoever.
I would be calling that number if I were you, I don't think this is a decoy
unless you have more evidence that suggests it might be outside of general
paranoia.

~~~
abba_fishhead
Well, one thing I know is that the less you talk to law enforcement, the less
you incriminate yourself. So calling is out. And we all have secrets, e.g.
downloading illegal IP for sure...

~~~
giaour
So take them seriously and don't tell them any more than you need to.

If you're worried that these agents are actually investigating you for illegal
downloads, see if you can find out what division of the FBI they work for. If
they work for the IP division, then your paranoia might be justified.

~~~
abba_fishhead
I've been trying real hard to find for info on the FBI.gov website, but I
can't find any information on the officers.

~~~
giaour
The kind of sting you're describing sounds incredibly improbable. You should
take what those agents told you seriously.

If you're actually concerned that the whole situation is an elaborate hoax to
catch you torrenting episodes of Game of Thrones, then you should talk to a
lawyer but still act as if the threat against your life is real because it
very well might be.

------
sarciszewski
Just FYI, as someone who was arrested by the FBI for computer hacking and at
the time had ~20 GB of illegally downloaded MP3s and SNES ROMs: They didn't
even bother investigating it. They even returned my laptop to me mostly
unmolested. (I assume they left an implant and quickly ditched it after
recovering the stuff I wanted and backing it up online.)

It's probably in the government's best interest to keep you alive, even if
you've torrented.

(Of course, I don't pirate stuff anymore. I doubt I'll ever feel like I'm off
their radar ever again. Not worth the risk.)

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eimai134
I know a lot of people always think poorly about the police and FBI. I've only
had positive run-ins with the police, perhaps because I'm female. I've heard
of people the FBI really wanted to get but didn't have info on, and they were
not nice to them or warning them of potential danger like they did with you,
so it sounds like it's worth taking to be legit. I'm curious what your
neighbors and landlord have to do with this? Have they heard something about
threats against you? You have already received death threats online - take
care of your personal safety in person. I like what another person said about
not posting for a while, perhaps going to stay in a different city. Turn in
any threats to the FBI and see if you have anything that could be leads for
them.

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ljk
If they are interested in you, how do you know they're not in this forum
already?

