> As the Commissioner said, when we look back through our cases, in nearly every single terrorist case that we face in the United States, terrorism attacks in Chattanooga, terrorism attacks in San Bernardino, Ft. Hood, hatchet attack in Queens, when we look back through those cases, in nearly every single case, somebody saw something, somebody saw a turn, a change in behavior, either online or in person, and didn’t say something. That’s understandable in a way because there is a natural human tendency to write an innocent narrative over what we felt were the facts. Save yourself the trouble. He probably had a bad day. I guess I didn’t hear that right. Our request of the American people is don’t do that.
I think there's also a very reasonable fear of making a false accusation - what if you're wrong, and it ruins the life of someone you're likely quite close to? Especially if an arrest is done very publicly, as it might be in the US, with SWAT kicking down their door, and a story in the news. Sure, the person might be released without charges, but that never gets the same attention as the initial arrest. When the persons name comes up in conversation there'll always be "isn't that the guy they arrested for maybe planning terrorism?". Who wants that guy for a colleague or neighbor?
> As the Commissioner said, when we look back through our cases, in nearly every single terrorist case that we face in the United States, terrorism attacks in Chattanooga, terrorism attacks in San Bernardino, Ft. Hood, hatchet attack in Queens, when we look back through those cases, in nearly every single case, somebody saw something, somebody saw a turn, a change in behavior, either online or in person, and didn’t say something. That’s understandable in a way because there is a natural human tendency to write an innocent narrative over what we felt were the facts. Save yourself the trouble. He probably had a bad day. I guess I didn’t hear that right. Our request of the American people is don’t do that.
Someone hasn't heard of confirmation bias.
source: https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/standing-together-against-... (also really really terrible title)