FBI: Man in Ireland charged with Pitt bomb threats

http://www.valleynewslive.com/story/19286303/fbi-man-in-ireland-charged-with-pitt-bomb-threats

A founding member of a Scottish terror group was indicted Wednesday on charges he emailed bomb threats that disrupted campus life and forced the evacuation of more than 100 buildings on the University of Pittsburgh campus earlier this year.
Adam Stuart Busby, 64, of Dublin, Ireland, was charged Wednesday with 17 emailed threats sent to the school between April 6 and 21, and also with emailed bomb threats against federal courthouses in Pittsburgh, Erie and Johnstown in June. He’s also charged with threatening Pittsburgh-based U.S. Attorney David Hickton – who led the investigation that resulted in Busby’s indictment – in a June 20 email.
Federal prosecutors also announced new charges against two Ohio men, including one previously charged in June, for some YouTube threats that claimed university computers had been hacked. Those threats are not directly related to the bomb scares, but were uncovered as a result of the same investigation.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Dubliner-charged-for-University-of-Pittsburgh-bomb-threats—police-say-motive-unknown-166522946.html

In 2010, Busby was sentenced to four years in prison in Ireland after he sent emails saying there were explosives on flights between London’s Heathrow Airport and New York City. He was released earlier this year, and it is believed he sent the Pittsburgh threats before he returned to prison in July.

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-08-15/justice/justice_irish-man-bomb-threats_1_dublin-man-e-mail-threats-face-charges

“I’ve lost everything — my job; this is going to be next,” Alexander Thomas Waterland, 24, said, gesturing to his Loveland, Ohio, apartment behind him during a brief interview this morning. His girlfriend is due to give birth to their son in about a month. Waterland said his top priority is finding another job.
“I have no idea (why the FBI thinks he made the threats). I haven’t the slightest clue,” Waterland said.
…
Waterland said his first contact with the FBI was a couple of months ago — he’s unsure of the date — when agents seized a “wifi device” at his former employer, Express Scripts, where Waterland used to work in an IT job. About a month ago, FBI agents executed a search warrant on his apartment in Loveland, a northeast suburb of Cincinnati, and seized computer equipment.

Too bad he can’t remember the exact dates. Maybe he’ll scan and post the warrant and receipt somewhere online and give the exact date he was let go from his job.

I hope all the delays for his hearing are due to him using his own computer forensics expert.
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http://www.justice.gov/usao/paw/news/2012/2012_june/2012_06_20_01.html

“On May 2, 2012, AnonOperative13 posted a comment about the video, which included information about specific university employees, and stated terms and a deadline for the apology.

Investigators were able to determine that the identity of AnonOperative13 is Alexander Waterland, of Loveland, Ohio.

“These charges pertain to specific cyberthreats in April and May of this year that targeted the University of Pittsburgh and caused disruption in campus operations,” stated U.S. Attorney Hickton. “These threats were part of the series of threats received by the University since February. The investigation is comprehensive and ongoing.”

Since February….hmmm…so that means they do suspect him of being the bomb threat artist.

The FBI’s ‘button button’ list:

Mark Lee Krangle
Seamus Johnston
Katherine Anne McCloskey
Alexander Waterland

Anyone else? Who’s next?

So, while U.S. Attorney David Hickton and the FBI play ‘button button’ with this FOURTH suspect, Johnston and McCloskey
sit waiting for their computer, phone and storage device forensics to be reported on by the FBI and for Hickton to either end or further pursue the circus in front of the grand jury.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120620/NEWS01/306200074/Loveland-man-accused-Internet-threats-Pitt

An Ohio man was arrested Wednesday on federal charges that he posted an anonymous YouTube video and a follow-up comment claiming to have stolen computer records from the University of Pittsburgh and threatening to release them unless the school’s chancellor made a public apology.

Alexander Waterland, 24, a Loveland man who worked as a computer specialist for an online prescription drug service, was released on bond by a federal magistrate in Cincinnati, with the understanding that he will appear before a magistrate in western Pennsylvania next week, according to U.S. Attorney David Hickton’s office in Pittsburgh, which is prosecuting the case.

Hickton said he could not answer questions because the investigation was continuing into Waterland’s alleged activities, as well as bomb threats — some emailed and others written in bathroom stalls of campus buildings — that disrupted classes and dorm life for weeks this year.

http://wearecentralpa.com/fulltext?nxd_id=372442

A Cambria County Judge upheld a guilty ruling Monday afternoon that a transgendered couple did engage in disorderly conduct at UPJ.
Katherine McCloskey was charged on November 28, 2011 with disorderly conduct. McCloskey was found guilty on the magistrate level and appealed the summary offense, Monday afternoon a county judge also found her guilty of the same charge for a second time.
…

McCloskey plans to appeal the summary offense; she is set to testify in front of the federal grand jury on Tuesday in a second matter. McCloskey has been suspected in the bomb threats made at the university’s main campus in Pittsburgh.

She should file battery charges against the campus cop for not opening the left hand door and bashing her head into it while the cop who held her other arm pulled her through the right hand door at the same time.

But, that’s OK … there really is such thing as the cosmic type of karma. Really. I see it happen all the time.

FBI Special Agents can be very wrong about their “suspects” and can be totally oblivious & miss the correct mark..even if it’s a different aspect of what they’re actively investigating. (Ask me how I know…ermmm…no, don’t ask me that)

If Katherine Anne McCloskey is unable to make a grand jury appearance again, I will start to wonder.

http://www.topix.com/forum/colleges/university-of-pittsburgh/TKK9HK7VNJ4MVI9OI

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Anonymous targets government websites including Chicago Police Department

http://www.examiner.com/article/anonymous-targets-government-websites-including-chicago-police-department

Anonymous affiliates calling themselves “AntiS3curityOPS,” reportedly sent an ominous message to the Chicago Police Department in a video posted on YouTube which has since been removed. A transcript of the group’s message on YouTube can be found here.

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FBI investigates bomb threat at Utah cyber center

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/21/3621038/fbi-investigates-bomb-threat-at.html

BLUFFDALE, Utah — The FBI is investigating a bomb threat that halted construction of a National Security Agency data center at Utah’s Camp Williams.
FBI spokeswoman Debbie Dujanovic Bertram tells The Associated Press that agents are searching the site for anything suspicious

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Yup.
THE FRAMEWORK FOR SUPPRESSING INFORMATION: Public Opinion in America’s 21st Century Police State

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30947

In a grand governmental exercise of Freudian-style projection, the DHS’s usage of inflammatory terms such as “terrorist” and “extremist” are routinely utilized to emphasize the nature and degree of various activist groups’ alleged deviant ideologies. This practice proceeds in light of the fact that most every “terrorist” act within the US since 9/11 has been carefully guided by the FBI or, as was the case with the initial “underwear bomber, Western intelligence agencies likely working in concert.

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Former Pitt student hopes to clear name in bomb threats case

“I hope this finally clears me because I’m completely innocent,” said Seamus Johnston, 22, of Jackson, Cambria County, upon leaving the federal building, Downtown.

Mr. Johnston’s partner, Katherine Anne McCloskey, 56, who also had been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh to provide fingerprints and writing samples, said in a telephone interview she could not do so Friday because she had injured herself in a fall the preceding night. She said she would provide the samples when she appears before the grand jury on May 22.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/04/27/handwriting-fingerprint-samples-taken-in-bomb-threat-case/

Seamus Johnston, who was born a woman and now lives as a man, left the federal courthouse late Friday afternoon after nearly four hours there saying he was exhausted but hoped, “this would clear his name.”

McCloskey-

I thought she was a hell or high water, in your face, stick it where the sun don’t shine type person and would have shown up to provide it. Maybe they’ll accommodate her by coming to their apartment with a warrant and a mobile print kit and ask her to write a paragraph or two, if her writing arm and hand aren’t affected.

Aside from protesting the extrajudicial function of the grand jury and its subpoena, might there be something going on with the fingerprint issue unrelated to the written threats left on campus?

May 22nd is a long time to wait.

Seamus Johnston, who was born a woman and now lives as a man, left the federal courthouse late Friday afternoon after nearly four hours there saying he was exhausted but hoped, “this would clear his name.”

He would not comment further. He is now represented by a public defender.

His partner, Katherine McCloskey, did not attend today’s session. She informed reporters by phone and email that she fell in the tub last night and required medical attention.

She plans to testify before a grand jury next month.

Federal agents recently raided their Johnstown home and seized computers and other equipment.

The couple maintains that the university is targeting them because of a lawsuit they filed against Pitt’s Johnstown campus.

RELATED LINKS:
Local Couple Testifies In Pitt Bomb Threat Case (4/17/12)
Computers, Servers Seized In Pitt Bomb Threat Investigation (4/20/12)
More Pitt News

TODAY while at the federal courthouse:

McCloskey is expected to answer questions while Seamus Johnston will provide fingerprints and a handwriting sample.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They might want to check the banner and notes and compare them to the written threats left on campus.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150699839018182.402205.82850948181&type=1

Katherine Anne McCloskey of Vinco said Thursday that the FBI has returned her computers in the Pitt bomb threats investigation, but that computer hardware belonging to her partner was not immediately dropped off, since he wasn’t home at the time.

And she gets to speak to the grand jury tomorrow.
We shall see if the FBI infestigation gets dropped in the mean time…or will they let it drag on and keep up the pretense until they can clone every server on the EU side that carried the Mixmaster messages. The other part of the pretense would be their saying to the grand jury ‘oh, look, we took their computers and phones and all the sudden the threats stopped’…and this is where McCloskey needs to be loud and inform the grand jury about the two demands made by the Threateners and how the school caved in to make it seem they were doing it in the interest of finals.

How many agents will be tailing them on the way to the courthouse tomorrow? lol

FBI to return evidence in bomb-threat case, woman says

“That’s how they say ‘I’m sorry.’ They give you your stuff back,” Katherine Anne McCloskey, 55, said. “They’re never going to admit a mistake.”

Well, they’re giving back the stuff, but who knows if they’ve finished perusing the information they copied and how they’ve interpreted it and how they’re going to present it to the pros. for the benefit of the grand jury.

Starting Sunday, she stated, the five buildings being used for final exams will be swept for explosives prior to the beginning of each exam day … .
Those buildings will be evacuated and ENS alerts sent only if law enforcement officers determine there is an imminent threat, according to Ms. Beeson.

Residence halls, she stated, will be swept for explosives every evening starting Sunday and access will continue to be limited to individuals with a valid Pitt ID.

With prior sweeps and more than likely no ENS alerts going out during finals, there will be no attention paid to any more e-mails that might be sent.

Pitt officials confirmed to KDKA-TV Saturday evening that the reward had been rescinded, but would not elaborate on why that decision was made.
…
Some of threats have noted that they would stop if the reward was dropped.

~~~

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/04/21/reward-offered-in-pitt-bomb-threat-case-dropped/

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Is this simply a well timed strategy on the part of the FBI and the pros.?

They swiped education records, a draft of a law suit (not cool), some handwritten things and a cell phone…along with anything that would give the FBI indication that the two were in Pittsburgh since January. They probably wanted gas and store receipts, Dr. appointment evidence if they see a doc out that way, etc.

Well, you’d think they would get cell phone ping maps from the providers using their handy dandy National Security Letters or a Grand Jury Subpoena. I’m sure they have, but don’t want to be confronted with “I let so and so use my phone” or “I left my phone in their car”…which is for real what someone used to do to me a lot.

Johnston and McCloskey should probably stay away from any devices that could connect to the Internet or the FBI will continually come back and take it to see if they’re accessing remailers.
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Have the FBI visited with……..
a person who had been previously indicted of making bomb threats and was given diversion…which they seem to have completed?

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/former-student-accused-of-bomb-threats-agrees-to-pay-pitt-8k/

Former student accused of bomb threats agrees to pay Pitt $8k

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/indictment-against-ex-student-accused-in-pitt-bomb-threats-dismissed-293179/

Indictment against ex-student accused in Pitt bomb threats dismissed

Armed with a warrant and displaying a gun, FBI agents go on a 3 hour search for handwriting samples.

FBI agents raid the home of a transgender Cambria County couple again Friday.

“I open my eyes and there is someone standing there pointing a handgun at me,” recounted Katherine Ann McCloskey.

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Next – Their fingerprints which were asked for in the grand jury subpoena. Or will the FBI wait and see if they get stuck with the contempt charges and go to jail where their fingerprints could be taken at processing instead?
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It’s looking more and more like the FBI’s likely suspects aren’t likely at all the ones sending the threats.
More threats were communicated this morning even after their electronics were kidnapped.

Not to say a person could not access someone else’s devices, but they should be under surveillance. That would mean kidnapping any visitor’s cell phone or lap top or any device the suspects may have been seen using while out in public or even while visiting a private residence.

If the judge orders Johnston and McCloskey arrested and put in jail for the looming contempt charges and they’re in there until this particular grand jury’s service ends …say it’s 4 weeks… and every single day while they’re in jail these stupid bomb threats keep coming in… well, who dunnit?

The FBI is delving deeper into where the dozens of bomb threats, mostly in e-mail form, are coming from.

Authorities keyed in on an Internet hosting service in New York. According to its website, a server located in an office shared by Riseup and May First/People Link was seized by the FBI.

[worldnow id=7006277 width=385 height=255 type=video]

That server is operated by an Italian-based internet service provider that has the capabilities to anonymously send e-mails and avoid any tracking of the sender.

It is for this reason that a spokesperson from Riseup stated: “We cannot help but wonder why such drastic action was taken when authorities knew that the server contained no useful information that would help in their investigation.”

“I think people were excited that they had some suspects and that they may have been getting somewhere,” said Pitt graduate student Taylor McKelvie. “Everyone seems to be a little discouraged with the recent influx again of bomb threats.”

A transgendered couple from Johnstown continues to be looked at in the investigation.

[worldnow id= 7003348 width=385 height=255 type=video]

Katherine Anne McCluskey was born a man, but now lives as a woman. Her partner, Seamus Johnston, who was born a woman, but now lives as a man, filed a discrimination lawsuit after a dispute over which bathroom and locker room Johnston should use.

Johnston was allegedly expelled from the school for repeatedly using the men’s locker room.

Both were in Pittsburgh earlier this week to testify in front of a federal grand jury. They were ordered to provide handwriting samples and fingerprints, but said they have nothing to do with the bomb threats.

The couple has not been arrested or charged.

Students at Pitt continue to carry on the best they can, staying as informed as possible about the investigation into the bomb threats that have caused major disruptions this spring.

“I’m sure that they’re doing everything they can, it’s just disappointing on all ends,” said McKelvie.

“It’s just causing so many problems and I just wish I could finish out my semester normally,” said student Jeremy Yellon.

Authorities continue to encourage anyone with information to contact the University of Pittsburgh Police Department at 412-624-2121 or by e-mail at police@pitt.edu.

RELATED LINKS

More Local News
More Pitt News
More Reports From Heather Abraham

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Challenging a Search and Seizure of Computerized Information

http://www.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/ElecDi17.pdf/$file/ElecDi17.pdf

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http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcrmp/rule_41

(ii) execute the warrant during the daytime, unless the judge for good cause expressly authorizes execution at another time; and

(B) Inventory. An officer present during the execution of the warrant must prepare and verify an inventory of any property seized. The officer must do so in the presence of another officer and the person from whom, or from whose premises, the property was taken.

C) Receipt. The officer executing the warrant must give a copy of the warrant and a receipt for the property taken

(g) Motion to Return Property. A person aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure of property or by the deprivation of property may move for the property’s return. The motion must be filed in the district where the property was seized.

FBI seizes transgender couple’s computers in Pitt bomb-threat investigation
A Cambria County couple under scrutiny in the University of Pittsburgh bomb-threat investigation said today that FBI agents served them with a search warrant Wednesday night and seized a personal computer, a laptop computer, a cell phone, a computer router and CDs from their apartment.

Good for them, standing up for their Constitutional rights and demanding a bona fide search warrant! And I hope they received a copy of the search warrant inventory.

Still bad is that they won’t be shown the creatively written Affidavit, which is still under seal.

8 agents came? WTF for? lol

And I’ll bet dollars to donuts they’re under surveillance and/or the agents left them a little bug or two.
When they get their stuff back, they should get new computers and phones in case of spy crap loaded on it by the FBI.
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May First Server Gets Seized

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/fbi-seizes-internet-server-in-new-york-as-part-of-bomb-threat-probe-632221/

“In the absence of any other leads, the FBI needs to show that they are making progress in this case, and this has meant seizing a server so they can proudly demonstrate they are taking some action,” Mr. McClelland said in a news release. “What this incident shows is they are grasping at straws and are willing to destroy innocent bystanders for the sake of protecting their careers.”

Yes, just as it was with the Hatfill Diaries.
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FYI
Eight more location threats were communicated after this morning’s 8 AM barrage.
8 AM … and then 8 more location threats? Is this person trying to say something or was that just coincidence with the 8s?

Since the prosecutorial and fact finder worlds think Johnston and/or McCloskey are responsible, why not offer them a stay in a controlled environment where they cannot access the Internet? I’m not talking a jail cell…more like a hotel room, no laptops allowed, no cell phones allowed and take out the telephone from the room…with a fact finding FBI agent or two to hang out in the room.

Maybe Johnston and McCloskey might offer that to them in front of the grand jury or in judge’s chambers.

What’s the JTTF doing about it? Well, they’re colluding with the prosecuting attorney who stands before a grand jury in using back door and off the Constitution grid methods to obtain property and identifiers of persons …without a warrant.

http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/Copy_of_Transgender-couple-complain-to-judge-in-Pitt-bombthreat-probe_45289802

Johnston was called before U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer for a closed-door hearing. Johnston said the judge advised him that she would seek court-appointed counsel to represent him at a hearing to show cause as to why he shouldn’t be charged with contempt of court. He said she ordered him to submit a handwriting sample and fingerprints.

Johnston said he wasn’t allowed to look at an order the judge signed at the hearing, nor at any affidavit of probable cause that a crime had been committed.

Ohhhhhhhh…he gets a show cause hearing.

I agree that anyone ordered to appear at a grand jury and anyone ordered to do anything by a judge should be able to view the affidavit and the order.

Ham sandwich indictments. If there’s some exculpatory evidence, how can an indictment ever be valid unless the pros chooses not to divulge it to the grand jury? hmmmmm

http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/11mcrm.htm#9-11.150

9-11.233

Presentation of Exculpatory Evidence

http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x101451848/Local-couple-appears-before-Pitt-bomb-threat-grand-jury

“Ms. Picking eventually led two agents, the couple and five reporters first to U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone’s suite, and then to the hallway outside of Judge Fischer’s courtroom. While Mr. Johnston and Ms. McCloskey waited there, reporters got word of another bomb threat on campus.

Mr. Johnston said he sure couldn’t be blamed for that one.”

And quite likely none of the other threats.

Maybe Mr. Manifesto really does know who is making the threats.

OR
An issue regarding the repeat appearance of a volunteer firefighter.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/experts-say-threatening-emails-are-virtually-impossible-to-trace-630118/?p=3

“Chief Delaney said investigators have developed at least one “person of interest.” Sources said investigators interviewed a volunteer firefighter who continually did interviews with local news crews after the first few threats.”

What happened with that? Did he give his computers to the FBI? Has he been under surveillance? Did they take his fingerprints and a handwriting sample? Does he like to use felt pens? hmmmmmm

Why don’t they review more media footage and see who all keeps reappearing…especially from the days where notes are left on campus.

http://www.wtae.com/r/30906603/detail.html

Johnston said the judge issued an order requested by the US attorney’s office directing him to provide fingerprints and handwriting samples.
Johnston said he was told the order and the affidavit of probable cause are “under seal.”

I’d like to see the affidavit. It probably contains a lot of snippets and spin of what the two said to the FBI. Consciousness of guilt does not include sticking up for your 4th amendment rights where your belongings are concerned.

They may be held in contempt for not bringing handwriting samples and fingerprints.

But………

http://openjurist.org/486/f2d/85/in-re-grand-jury-proceedings-in-re-jacqueline-schofield-witness

A transgender couple from Johnstown was subpoenaed to appear Tuesday. They said they are not responsible for the bomb threats and feel that they were targeted because of a dispute with Pitt’s Johnstown campus.

Katherine Anne McCluskey was born a man, but now lives as a woman. Her partner, Seamus Johnston, who was born a woman, but now lives as a man, filed a lawsuit after a dispute over which bathroom and locker room Johnston should use.

[worldnow id= 6971848 width=385 height=255 type=video]

Although they brought computer equipment with them in their car, they said they would not turn it over or go through fingerprinting or submit writing samples without a warrant.

“We have nothing whatsoever to do with the bomb threats. That’s not something either of us would ever do for any reason – even make a crank call let alone a bomb threat. We hope that the person or persons that are responsible are caught. I think this is retaliation from the university for filing a lawsuit against them,” McCluskey said.

[worldnow id=6975238 width=385 height=255 type=video]

As Federal Judge Nora Barry Fischer was being asked to consider a warrant issue behind closed doors, Johnston was summoned to see the judge.

After leaving judge’s chambers, Johnston said the judge ordered that Johnston provide fingerprint and handwriting samples.

Johnston claimed judge would not reveal the affidavit for probable cause because it is a grand jury matter.

McCluskey and Johnston’s testimony before grand jury was very limited, dealing mostly with the fingerprint and handwriting samples.

A tentative deal has been worked out whereby both will comply with order to provide handwriting and fingerprint samples.

The decision to comply came under the threat of a contempt of court citation.

A future hearing will determine whether they will continue testimony before the grand jury.

Stay With KDKA.com For More Details

RELATED LINKS

More Local News
More Pitt News
More Reports From Harold Hayes

McCloskey sez:
Johnston’s attorney told her that Johnston was never a POI per the pros., it was only McCloskey.

So, why would they want Johnston’s handwriting exemplars and fingerprints?
Think about it.

McCloskey should get her own attorney before the scheduled grand jury appearance.

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/feds-raid-transgendered-couples-johnstown-area-hom/nMdLc/

Another round of threats forced students to evacuate their University of Pittsburgh dormitories early Friday morning.