The FBI says it is deploying Facebook and Twitter to find "a wanted terrorist" who grew up near Boston and may now be living in Syria.
He is Ahmad Abousamra, 31, a French-born dual citizen of the United States and Syria. Abousamra was indicted in 2009 after taking trips to Pakistan and Yemen. The bureau is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to his arrest.
"Knowing that the public is the FBI's best ally in finding fugitives, we're requesting their assistance to locate Ahmad Abousamra," said Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston division.
The FBI said Abousamra allegedly attempted to get military training for the purpose of killing American soldiers overseas. It also said he traveled to Iraq with the hope of joining up with forces fighting against the United States.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Abousamra after he was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy, false statements, and aiding and abetting.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/03/justice/massachusetts-fbi-terrorist/index.html?hpt=ju_c2
Replies
that's pretty sweet how they can just find by finding him on twitter or facebook
That is odd. There are probably tons of people with that name and he probably isn't one of them. He probably has taken up a different name. Also to try to find him on Twitter would be crazy. Again, I'm sure he is under a different name and I'm sure his Twitter name does not reflect him at all.
This is a clever idea i think because you can be sneaky and they wouldn't know it! You could also act as someone else and trick the terrorist. I hope they find him because i don't like terrorist.
I think that it is pretty cool that anyone can assist in an arrest of a wanted terrorist just through social media.
This is weird that they are using facebook and twitter to find him! There are tons and tons of people on twitter and facebook who could have that same name so that would take hours to try and find him.