Report: FBI paid controversial NJ blogger for help

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey blogger about to stand trial on charges he made death threats against federal judges apparently was paid by the FBI in its battle against domestic terrorism, according to a published report.

The Record of Bergen County reported Sunday that Hal Turner received thousands of dollars from the FBI to report on neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups and was sent undercover to Brazil.

Turner also claims the FBI coached him to make racist, anti-Semitic and other threatening statements on his radio show, but the newspaper also found many federal officials were concerned that his audience might follow up on his violence rhetoric.

The newspaper reviewed numerous government documents, e-mails, court records and almost 20 hours of jailhouse interviews with Turner.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jzBi0fWBvJIDUVijJgw7oQJRMYrQD9C9G98O0

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Link to The Record: http://www.northjersey.com/news/Records_show_feds_used_ultra-right_radio_host_for_years.html

[redirish28]

1. Now watch he's going to say his "threats" where part of his job as

a way to get NEO-Nazis to talk with him.


I just don't like the smell of this.

[robinlynne]

2. undercover to Brazil? to do what? on our tax dime? are you kidding me?

[truthisfreedom]

3. What a disaster. I'd hate to be part of any group within the FBI responsible for this quagmire.

Total clusterf*ck.

[EFerrari]

4. That's what they do. It's their signature.

[cowcommander]

5. So that's how he's still around even after 4chan raided him

[boppers]

7. Rules.

1 and 2.

[New Dawn]

6. Kick for truth.

[Blue_Tires]

8. major kick

[sabrina 1]

9. Hal Turner was an old, racist friend of Sean Hannity

When rightwing racist talk-show host, Bob Grant was finally fired Hannity replaced him in NY.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050620/blumenthal

On WABC Hannity inherited Grant's fan base of angry white males, who listened to his show in the New York City area. Hannity recognized his audience's thirst for red meat, racist rhetoric. However, he knew that if he wanted to avoid Grant's fate, he needed an air of deniability. When "Hal from North Bergen" began calling his show, Hannity found he could avoid the dangers of direct race-baiting by simply outsourcing it to Turner.

And according to Hal Turner, they became friends off the air with Hannity giving him advice on some of his problems.

He only dropped him when it became too controversial and his Fox Show might have been placed in jeopardy as Turner became more and more radical.

If this is the kind of nutcase the FBI hires, we are really in more trouble than we thought. What did they expect this kind of insane violent ranting to accomplish other than more violence?

[optimator]

10. just like the anthrax scare

no doubt the FBI was involved.

[mcablue]

11. Records show FBI used ultra-right radio host for years

Source: Northjersey.com

They called him "Valhalla."

For more than five years, Hal Turner of North Bergen lived a double life.


The public knew him as an ultra-right-wing radio talk show host and Internet blogger with an audience of neo-Nazis and white supremacists attracted to his scorched-earth racism and bare-knuckles bashing of public figures. But to the FBI, and its expanding domestic counter-terror intelligence operations in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Turner was "Valhalla" — his code name as an informant who spied on his own controversial followers.

Turner's clandestine past was confirmed this past summer when he was jailed on charges that he made threats on his blog against three federal judges in Chicago. In court after his arrest, federal prosecutors acknowledged Turner's FBI ties but downplayed his importance and even described him as "unproductive."

Read more: http://www.northjersey.com/news/crime_courts/Records_show_feds_used_ultra-right_radio_host_for_years.html#

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Looks like he was being used to catch racist groups. Turner may have been pretending to be right-wing, according to what I read.

[Demeter]

12. No Sale

If this is supposed to rehabilitate the reputations of either Turner or the FBI, it fails catastrophically.

[Bobbieo]

13. Everybody loves a 'snitch', especially the KKK.

[truthisfreedom]

14. Now that he's been outed, he'll need the Federal Witness Protection Program to survive

inside jail or out.

[parts]

15. what?

Eh... Don't get it.

If he was an informant, why on earth are they jailing him for what he did as part of his cover? Or did he threaten the judges "privately", so to speak?

[greennina]

16. Exactly.

Something is fishy. I bet the FBI is simply making-up crap to protect a racist.

[Bobbieo]

17. If he truly was an FBI informant - 'snitch' - , the FBI did a lousy job of protecting him.

so his ass is grass no matter where he goes. He picked some really great people to snitch on, too!!!

[malakai2]

18. The FBI has used informants exactly like this before

Google COINTELPRO. No reason to think they're making it up to protect anybody.

[struggle4progress]

19. This probably means the Feds had something on Turner and delayed prosecution in return

for his promise to cooperate -- and it sounds like he wasn't ultimately very cooperative

[sabrina 1]

20. He was already a righgtwing nutjob before he

was used by the FBI. Look him up. He was a friend of Hannity eg for years before the FBI decided to use him. Why the FBI would be using someone who was inciting violence against Federal Judges and politicians is a question someone needs to answer.

Going back as far as the early 'nineties it's clear he was a rightwinger. I doubt we are getting the truth from him or the FBI. If we have a law-enforcement agency that is funding the kind of violent, vicious hatred this guy was spewing, I'd like to know how that was supposed to benefit anyone. There was also the risk of one of his lunatic listeners going out doing what he was advocating, such as killing judges and politicians. Someone needs to explain how that was productive and why he was not stopped as he definitely placed the lives of several people in danger. Now we are told the FBI knew this and not only did nothing to stop him, but paid him for it. I have questions about the FBI never mind this lunatic.

[Lagomorph]

21. So, the DEA sells drugs, the ATF smokes Cuban cigars and now...

the FBI promotes hate crimes.

And it only cost us an extra $12 trillion to get here.