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Page 8 The Skanner Portland & Seattle November 7, 2018 News Law Enforcement Faces Dilemma in Assessing Online Threats By Lisa Marie Pane Associated Press BOISE, Idaho — Their anger is all over social media for the whole world to see, with rants about minorities, re- lationships gone bad or paranoid delusions about perceived slights. The perpetrators of mass shootings often provide a treasure trove of insight into their vi- olent tendencies, but the information is not always seen by law en- forcement until after the violence is carried out. In addition, rants and hate speech rarely factor into whether someone passes a background check to buy guns. The massacre at a Pitts- burgh synagogue, the pipe bombing attempts from last week and the Florida high school shooting this year have underscored the dilem- ma of law enforcement around the country in as- sessing the risk of people making online rants at a time when social media has become so ubiqui- tous. “We can go out on Twit- ter and there are loads of people saying insane stuff, but how do you know which is the one person? It’s always easy after the fact, to go: ‘That was clear.’ But clearly everyone spouting their mouth doesn’t go and shoot up a synagogue,” said David Chipman, a retired agent of the fed- eral Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and now se- nior policy adviser for the Giffords Center. Robert Bowers, the man accused of opening fire at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, expressed virulently anti-Semitic views on a social media site called Gab, according AP PHOTO/GENE J. PUSKAR, FILE More than three-quarters of police departments search social media for online threats, survey says In this Oct. 28, 2018, file photo a Pittsburgh Police officer walks past the Tree of Life Synagogue and a memorial of flowers and stars in Pittsburgh in remembrance of those killed and injured when a shooter opened fire during services Saturday at the synagogue. The social media site popular with far-right extremists and apparently used by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect, advertises as a haven for free-speech fans. As more mainstream sites have cracked down on hate speech and threats of violence, critics say Gab has become a breeding ground for white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other extremists. to an Associated Press re- view of an archived ver- sion of the posts made under his name. The cover photo for his ac- count featured a neo-Na- zi symbol, and his recent posts included a photo of a fiery oven like those used in Nazi concentra- tion camps during World War II. Other posts refer- enced false conspiracy theories suggesting the Holocaust was a hoax. It was only just before the shooting that the poster believed to be Bowers seemed to cross the line, posting: “I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.” Authorities say Bower killed 11 people and injured six others, including four officers who responded. Keeping tabs on so- cial media posts has been used for years by law enforcement to try to identify potential threats. The task is enor- mous and it’s an inexact science. The volume of posts is significant and the question arises: Is something a true threat or free speech? They are mindful of the fact that the First Amendment protects Americans’ right to ex- press even speech that many in society find ab- horrent — and have to make often-subjective decisions about what crosses the line. Among more than 550 police departments across the country sur- veyed several years ago by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, about three-quar- ters said they regularly searched social media for potential threats. Lt. Chris Cook, spokes- man for the Arlington, Texas, Police Depart- ment, said the searches are often done manually, using keywords to try to identify troubling posts. “It’s very time consum- ing, it’s very staff and re- source intensive and you have humans involved in the process so there is the potential that law enforcement can miss something,” Cook said, adding that departments can’t rely on social media alone. The community needs to be involved to report any suspicious be- havior. “Everyone has to be our extra eyes and ears out there,” he said. In one case where vig- ilance paid off, authori- ties say a Black woman received troubling rac- ist, harassing messages on Facebook from a man she didn’t know, prompt- ing her to call police. The tip from the New Jersey woman led Kentucky po- lice to a home where they found Dylan Jarrell with a firearm, more than 200 rounds of ammuni- tion, a bulletproof vest, a 100-round high-capacity magazine and a “detailed plan of attack.” He was arrested just as he was leaving his driveway. Bowers is not alone among alleged mass shooters in making rac- ist or bigoted comments online. Dylann Roof, convict- ed of the 2015 slaying of nine black churchgoers in South Carolina, had posted a 2,000-word racist rant and posed in photos with firearms and the Confederate flag. Ni- kolas Cruz, the teenager charged in the slaying of 17 students and adults at a high school in Park- land, Florida, hurled on- line slurs against blacks and Muslims, and went so far as to state he want- ed to be a “professional school shooter.” The rants did not af- fect their ability to buy guns. When purchasing a firearm, criminal back- ground checks only look for any records showing a criminal past or mental health problems that led to an involuntary com- mitment. “I always felt as an ATF agent, the way our laws were structured, ATF stood for ‘After the Fact’,” Chipman said. There have been some changes, however, to make it easier to alert authorities to warning signs. “Red flag” laws have been enacted in 13 states in the past couple of years, allowing rela- tives or law enforcement with concerns about a person’s mental health to go to court and seek to have firearms removed at least temporarily. A career you can be proud of. Being a carpenter isn’t just a job. 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