The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Mir Islam, Who SWATted Me in 2013, Has Been Sentenced to Two Years in Prison

Posted on | July 13, 2016 | 35 Comments

 

The FBI contacted me earlier this month to tell me that the guy responsible for targeting me in a March 2013 SWATting incident was scheduled for sentencing in federal court, but I couldn’t report anything about it until after the hearing. Because of last week’s Dallas attack, the hearing date Monday slipped my mind, but here’s the official statement:

New York Man Sentenced To 24 Months in Prison
For Internet Offenses, Including “Doxing,” “Swatting,”
Making a False Bomb Threat, and Cyber-Stalking
WASHINGTON — Mir Islam, 22, of New York, N.Y., was sentenced today to 24 months in prison on three federal charges stemming from a conspiracy to commit various crimes related to the “swatting” and “doxing” of dozens of victims, and from a false bomb threat made against a university in Arizona and a pattern of online harassment constituting cyber-stalking against a university student, all occurring between February and September 2013.
The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips of the District of Columbia, U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo of the District of Arizona, and Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
Islam pleaded guilty on July 6, 2015, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to a total of three charges. They included one count of conspiracy to commit a range of federal offenses, including identity theft; access device fraud; social security number misuse; computer fraud; wire fraud; assaulting federal officials; and interstate transmission of threats. The other charges included one count of threatening and conveying false information concerning the use of explosives and one count of cyber-stalking.
In his guilty plea, Islam admitted to “swatting” and “doxing” numerous individuals, to communicating a false shooting and bomb threat on a university campus in Arizona, and to committing a pattern of online harassment against a university student. “Swatting” is the act of placing emergency 9-1-1 type calls to police departments, usually through Internet-based telecommunication relay services, to make false claims of homicides or other assaultive or criminal conduct by, or against, other targeted individuals at the locations of those individuals. These false 9-1-1 communications are intended to result in, and usually did result in, a tactical police response, including SWAT teams, to the targeted, unsuspecting victims’ residences. “Doxing” is the act of gathering, by licit and illicit means, and posting on the Internet personal identifying information (“PII”) and other sensitive information about an individual, including, for example, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, credit information, employers, and details regarding the individual’s children and other family members.
“The crimes committed by this defendant violated the privacy of dozens of people, fostered identity theft, and endangered the safety of many others,” said U.S. Attorney Phillips. “Mir Islam put people at risk on the Internet and in their own homes, placed responding police officers at risk, created a dangerous situation on a college campus, caused substantial emotional distress to numerous victims, and diverted law enforcement from work they could be doing to protect the public. Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of his crimes and hopefully will deter others from similar actions.” . . .

You can read the rest of that statement, and you can also read the account by Internet security specialist Brian Krebs, who reports that among the targets of Mir Islam’s online terrorism were Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association and a University of Arizona cheerleader that this criminal hacker spent months cyberstalking.

What the reader should ask themselves is this question: “Why would the NRA president, a conservative blogger like Stacy McCain, and a tech security guy like Brian Krebs all be targeted by Mir Islam (and his yet-to-be-identified co-conspirators) in 2013?”

While the reader is speculating on that, let me add a very curious fact: I wasn’t living at the address that was SWATted in March 2013.

In May 2012, after I started reporting on the Brett Kimberlin case, concern for my family’s safety caused me to move to “an undisclosed location” outside Maryland. However, certain people who were allied with Brett Kimberlin — among them, deranged cyberstalker Bill Schmalfeldt — went to extraordinary lengths to defame me, and one of their character-assassination tactics was to claim that I had lied about moving out of state. Over and over, these allies of Brett Kimberlin falsely claimed online that I was still living at my former address in Maryland.

And guess which address was SWATted in March 2013?

Yep. A young couple with an infant daughter was living at my family’s former address, and the terrifying ordeal of being confronted in the middle of the night by a heavily armed police tactical unit was a trauma that they will never forget. Who is ultimately to blame for that incident?

Well, Mir Islam has been sentenced to federal prison now, and it would be unwise to speculate about the identities of his co-conspirators, but carefully read this paragraph of the official FBI statement:

According to the government’s evidence, Islam and his co-conspirators swatted at least 20 celebrities and state and federal officials. For example, a former member of Congress from Michigan was swatted because of federal legislation he sponsored; a former State Representative, who is now a member of Congress, was swatted because of anti-swatting state legislation he sought to enact, and an Assistant United States Attorney was swatted in retaliation for a particular prosecution he participated in.

Hmmm. Who was that “former member of Congress from Michigan” and what “federal legislation” caused him to be targeted? Which federal prosecution caused Mir Islam’s crew to target an assistant U.S. attorney?

As I say, it would be unwise to speculate about who else might have been involved in Mir Islam’s SWATting conspiracy, and the FBI made a point of stating: “The investigation is continuing.” When I was notified a year ago that a then-unnamed person had copped a plea with the feds, I said: “Let justice be done. Let the guilty fear punishment for their crimes, so that the innocent need never fear.”

Mir Islam is now in federal prison, but there are still guilty people who have yet to face justice, and they should be afraid — very afraid.

Thanks to all the readers who have supported me during the relentless harassment I’ve endured over the past four years. Most of the evil that has been done to me, I’ve never even mentioned publicly, because I don’t want to give these wicked monsters the satisfaction of acknowledging how much damage they have inflicted, and also because if I described their tactics, other monsters might imitate such criminal evil.

“Never Doubt That God Answers Prayer,” and thanks to all the readers who know the Five Most Important Words in the English Language:

HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!




 

UPDATE: Linked by John Hoge at Hogewash — thanks!

 


Category: Crime, Terrorism

Comments

35 Responses to “Mir Islam, Who SWATted Me in 2013, Has Been Sentenced to Two Years in Prison”

  1. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    July 13th, 2016 @ 10:46 am

    Good riddance. It should have been even longer, but two years is good.

  2. Jeanette Victoria ?????????
    July 13th, 2016 @ 10:47 am

    Oh I feel so sorry for that family that had to be so traumatizing. I’m surprised I’ve haven been SWATTED as I’ve has a Google map to my home posted with the LIE that I trafficked in infants

  3. WJJ Hoge
    July 13th, 2016 @ 10:49 am

    This is good news!

  4. Jeanette Victoria ?????????
    July 13th, 2016 @ 10:49 am

    It should be quite the read when the whole story is revealed

  5. Finrod Felagund
    July 13th, 2016 @ 10:52 am

    Good riddance to bad rubbish with more to follow.

  6. Dana
    July 13th, 2016 @ 10:59 am

    Somehow, a sentence of 24 months does not seem consistent with the statement, ” Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of his crimes and hopefully will deter others from similar actions.”

    One hopes that Mr Islam has some tangible assets which can be seized in a lawsuit, but, considering that he was only 19 when he was committing these offenses, I would guess not.

    Still, there was a line on NCIS in which Jethro Gibbs, putting the pressure on two college-aged witnesses, says, “Believe me, son, you will not do well in prison.”

  7. gunga
    July 13th, 2016 @ 11:05 am

    One down… which folks around here would call: A good start!
    May the innocent be blessed with peace…and may the guilty tremble and turn from their ways.

  8. RS
    July 13th, 2016 @ 11:16 am

    Good news.

    BTW, how does the cheerleader fit in?

  9. Frankie
    July 13th, 2016 @ 11:27 am

    I wonder how Rauhauser, Schmalfeldt, and Kimberlin are taking this news? I wonder if they have anything to fear from this guy spilling his guts to the feds?

  10. Yu-Ain Gonnano
    July 13th, 2016 @ 11:29 am

    “Which federal prosecution caused Mir Islam’s crew to target an assistant U.S. attorney?”

    According to Mr. Krebs it was the prosecution of Aaron Swartz, who IIRC was facing a much harsher penalty for auto-downloading academic journals than Mr. Islam is facing for what I consider to be attempted murder.

  11. praxis_62
    July 13th, 2016 @ 11:45 am

    He copped a plea. They’re going after “other conspirators”. One need only look at some of the names mentioned in the article to know who some of these might be.

  12. SarahW
    July 13th, 2016 @ 11:48 am

    I agree with Krebs. Judge Moss sent the reverse of the message he claimed to want to send. Deadly force by proxy is still deadly force. He should have received the statutory maximum.

    I understand he’s a sick person, but he isn’t sorry. He’ll do it again. And others encouraged to follow his example….

  13. SarahW
    July 13th, 2016 @ 11:51 am

    I believe it’s a standard case of “She was a pretty girl who talked to him, but ghosted him when he became obnoxious.” He was infuriated she would reject him and think she could get away.

  14. SarahW
    July 13th, 2016 @ 11:53 am

    I’m sure there is anxiety in Team Psychopath.

  15. Steve Skubinna
    July 13th, 2016 @ 11:57 am

    Psychopaths are typically, though not always, of above average intelligence. However they nearly universally overestimate how smart they really are, or how dumb their opponents are.

    Then, when they are inevitably caught and held to account, they are upset because getting caught wasn’t part of the game they created. It was against the rules. These are people, like all SJWs, who are incapable of operating in the same reality the rest of us deal with.

  16. CrustyB
    July 13th, 2016 @ 12:03 pm

    Let’s all hope he gets lots of sex in prison. The involuntary kind.

  17. robertstacymccain
    July 13th, 2016 @ 1:45 pm

    “RAPE CULTURE!”

  18. robertstacymccain
    July 13th, 2016 @ 1:56 pm

    Let me just say that there are many people familiar with Neal Rauhauser who suspect that the only reason he is not already in federal prison is because he is such a valuable snitch for the FBI.

    While I have no idea who in particular put me “on the radar” for Mir Islam, neither do I think it was entirely coincidental. If Mir Islam was in any way associated with Rauhauser (and I have no way to know whether he was or not, so this is strictly a hypothetical), then I can guarantee that Rauhauser would have sold out Mir Islam in a heartbeat. Nobody who actually knows Neal Rauhauser trusts him as far as they could throw him. He is notoriously a selfish little coward, whose known modus operandi is to manipulate others into attacking whoever Neal wants targeted.

    Read everything I’ve ever written about Neal Rauhauser and ask yourself, “Why has Neal never sued this McCain guy for writing such terrible things about him?” Well, perhaps because I only write the truth, and Neal Rauhauser is every bit as evil as I say he is.

    Never suspect a coincidence when bad things happen to people who know Neal Rauhauser.

  19. robertstacymccain
    July 13th, 2016 @ 1:58 pm

    Actually, TWO down — you forgot that the feds put Barrett Brown in prison a couple years ago.

  20. Jeanette Victoria ?????????
    July 13th, 2016 @ 2:09 pm

    “HateFact” and maybe macroaggression

  21. CrustyB
    July 13th, 2016 @ 2:48 pm

    #LoveIsLove

  22. scrubone
    July 13th, 2016 @ 3:10 pm

    Good to see they have not let someone get away with this.

  23. Steve Skubinna
    July 13th, 2016 @ 5:29 pm

    Actually surprising, considering how cases involving harassment of conservatives are typically handled. Islam’s mistake here was in going after targets that the criminal justice system wants to defend.

    Our esteemed host merely found himself by coincidence in some very heavy company. Although I am fascinated by the possibility that there could be a Rauhauser connection.

  24. Dianna Deeley
    July 13th, 2016 @ 5:57 pm

    Always here, very pleased with this, and hope it is the start of more justice.

  25. SarahW
    July 13th, 2016 @ 7:31 pm

    Another hapless victim of you know who.

  26. Katie Scarlet
    July 13th, 2016 @ 7:48 pm

    Great news Stacy. Can’t wait for the next shoe to drop.

  27. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    July 13th, 2016 @ 8:36 pm

    The character “Reek” on GoT reminds me of Barrett Brown.

  28. Joe Guelph
    July 13th, 2016 @ 8:42 pm

    Those lovable goofballs at Kiwifar.ms have recently discovered the whole Schmalfeldt/Kimberlin affair, and have been ripping the hell out of Fat Bill and the others. One posting even included a shout-out to TOM:
    https://kiwifar.ms/threads/bill-schmalfeldt-parky-bill-william-mathew-schmalfeldt-the-liberal-grouch-skullflattener.20827/page-3#post-1596933

  29. WarEagle82
    July 13th, 2016 @ 9:46 pm

    Clearly there is much going on that is hidden.

    Silly me. At one point I thought your move was a bit of drama and hyperbole. Now I see there is something interesting afoot.

    I assume you came to Virginia because it is easier to get a concealed carry permit. Sounds like you may need it.

  30. WarEagle82
    July 13th, 2016 @ 9:48 pm

    I wonder if Mr. Islam has been placed in segregated confinement? He may not be safe in the general population.

  31. DeadMessenger
    July 13th, 2016 @ 10:29 pm

    +1000

  32. texlovera
    July 14th, 2016 @ 7:19 am

    scumbags gonna scum.

  33. gunga
    July 14th, 2016 @ 8:36 am

    I did forget. The wheels of justice do seem to be grinding slowly, but exceedingly fine in this case. Good!

  34. OregonMuse
    July 14th, 2016 @ 7:42 pm

    After seeing the D. Frsch case unfold over a period of years, I am convinced the only reason that she did jail time was because she stupidly decided to take her stalking and harassment show on the road, so to speak, and go after government officials. That was the *only* thing that got their attention enough to cause them to take action against her. If she hadn’t done that, if she had limited her harassment to private individuals, she’d still be out there yammering her threats on the internet.

    I suspect this is also the case with this Mir Islam character. Once he started swatting state and federal officials, then the jig was up. If he weren’t such an idiot, if he’d managed to rein it in a little, he’d still be out there stalking cheerleaders. But he’s just like the divine Miss Debbie. Both are completely unable to restrain themselves, and eventually, they’ll crank it up to ’11’.

    So thank God he’s stupid. And thank God he’s doing jail time.

  35. Nina Sage
    July 18th, 2016 @ 9:12 pm

    It should have been two years and a sound beating.