Records show feds used ultra-right radio host for years

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.northjersey.com/news/Records_show_feds_used_ultra-right_radio_host_for_years.html

Sunday, November 29, 2009

They called him "Valhalla."

But it was more than a nickname.

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."

But an investigation by The Record — based on government documents, e-mails, court records and almost 20 hours of jailhouse interviews with Turner — shows that federal authorities made frequent use of Turner in its battle against domestic terrorism.


2000: Enters elective politics and comes in last in a three-way primary race for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Bob Menendez.

[MineralMan]

1. I'm not surprised, really. The morons posted away on

his "blog," making the most outrageous threats and the like. Seemed like low-hanging fruit to me. However, "Turner" facilitated the nonsense himself. The risk of an entrapment defense is strong.

[phasma ex machina]

3. Reminds me of the movie "Mother Night."

Howard W. Campbell Jr.: I guess the moral here is: you must be careful what you pretend to be because in the end you are who you're pretending to be.

[MineralMan]

5. Yup. I worked as a mechanic in for my county in California

for a couple of years back in the early 1970s. We repaired the Sheriff's cars, including the unmarked ones. One of them was an old Ford Econoline van used by the undercover narcotics guys. They'd always leave a joint in the glove compartment for me so I'd get the work done quickly.

Buncha dopers!

[tabbycat31]

2. I want to know Christie's role in this

I'd love it if his governorship was brought down before he took office. Bwahahaha.

[StarfarerBill]

4. Typical of the far right;

they can't even trust their own, and will sell each other out in a New York minute.

[struggle4progress]

6. I bet that means the Feds had him for something but didn't press charges in exchange

for his cooperation

[gratuitous]

7. I wonder what Glenn Beck's code name is?

Beware Beckerheads! The next jack-booted storm trooper to kick down your door may have Glenn Beck's logo on his shoulder patch.

[Kansas Wyatt]

8. The Fed's 'battle against domestic terrorism'

:wtf:

So the dumb fucks that were running the country, in their infinite wisdom, thought creating and whipping up domestic terrorism was battling it?