Conspiracy theories are flooding the internet after FBI Director Christopher Wray announced that he is “increasingly concerned” over the potential of a large-scale terror attack in America.
In an interview released on Wednesday with NBC News’ Lester Holt, Wray expressed worry over a possible foreign threat “which may be not that different from what you saw against the concert hall in Russia a few weeks ago from ISIS-K.”
Wray’s comments were quickly seized upon by many online who suggested that the FBI was preparing to allow such an attack for political gain.
“Let me guess, on FBI radar but they simply missed the chance,” posted @abnheel on X in reaction to the news. “Tomorrow’s headlines today.”
Plenty of other posters picked up on the idea, which has become a meme online, where law enforcement like the FBI will often acknowledge that a criminal was on their radar before they end up committing a crime in a dramatic public fashion.
Others argued that such an admission was undeniable proof that the government itself was preparing to carry out a false flag attack.
“This is an example of predictive programming…” posted @JenniferJablun1. “If anything happens, just remember… the government did it.”
“It’s a shame they’re going to inexplicably miss all the warning signs,” posted @mattsgoodtweets. “Again”.
The ISIS-K attack in Russia in late March killed at least 139 people and injured 182 more, reported Reuters. According to US intelligence, the attack was carried about by Islamic State Khorasan, an ISIS affiliate which emerged in Eastern Afghanistan.
Whoever the government believes is behind the threats, posters speculated that potential attacks might be blamed on different groups or staged to push government friendly narratives and agendas.
“They will blame Palestinians ‘terrorists’ so the govt can justify its support of Israel,” speculated @Meernaa89.
In Wray’s interview with Holt, he said that the agency was worried about “spillover” from the “Israel Hamas conflict,” referring to Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza in response to the October 7th attacks.
Wray claimed last month at a Congressional hearing that the terrorist threat in the US had reached a “whole other level” after October 7th, reported Bloomberg.
When asked if the FBI was monitoring protests in support of Palestine on college campuses, Wray claimed that “demonstrations themselves are not something that … the FBI ever gets involved in,” but acknowledged sharing “intelligence about specific threats of violence” with campuses as well as state and local law enforcement.
Other posters claimed that the news of a potential attack was part of a plot to rig the upcoming November presidential election.
“Of course they do – they have an election to rig,” posted @BMoPawPaw in reaction to the news.
“So, is this an actual concern or something our own government is planning?” asked @bfreshwa.
“Like canceling the election?” proposed @slobzilla.
Some instead blamed the terror threat warning on immigrants being allowed into the country by the Biden administration.
“Might have something to do with that open border and all of the hate that is being encouraged on college campuses,” posted @BurtMaclin_FBI. “Might be something the president should look into when he has done watching Matlock.”
“Biden let them in,” added @RDog861. “Anything happens, it’s on Biden.”
Meanwhile, some posters mixed and matched some of the theories, speculating that the attack would come from an immigrant let in by Biden then used as a pretext for the government’s real agenda.
“Otherwise known as a false-flag, thanks to the 10 million ‘migrants’ the Biden administration has allowed (and funded) to pour across our southern border for the last three years,” posted @Its_Gav_7. “My money says it’ll be used to ‘suspend’ the 2024 elections. Cue the Zelensky playbook.”
Another theory alleged that the government issues such warnings prior to each presidential election.
“Not saying something will or won’t happen this time, but we seem to get these customary warnings every single presidential election year,” pointed out @fuller_sean.
“It’s just beginning to look like these ‘advisories’ are issued during presidential election years to cover the FBI’s ass, as opposed to being issued due to a specific, credible threat that can be cited,” he wrote in a followup post.
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