Shannen Rossmiller

Let's move our chats to a safer place, one where we can delete the messages as soon as they're read. Kasser was interested.

Let's move our chats to a safer place, one where we can delete the messages as soon as they're read. Kasser was interested.

Shannon suggested that they set up an email account that they both could access, and to send messages to one another, one of them could start an email and just leave it in the drafts folder, unsent, and then the other one can log in, see the message, read it, and then delete it, and poof, no trace of the message anywhere.

Shannon suggested that they set up an email account that they both could access, and to send messages to one another, one of them could start an email and just leave it in the drafts folder, unsent, and then the other one can log in, see the message, read it, and then delete it, and poof, no trace of the message anywhere.

Kesser not only agreed to this idea, but actually gave her his username and password to his email. He said, hey, just leave draft messages in my inbox, and I'll read them and delete them as soon as I see them. And she was astonished that he gave her his password. I can only imagine she must have cheered, yeah, I mean, yeah, okay, we'll use your email.

Kesser not only agreed to this idea, but actually gave her his username and password to his email. He said, hey, just leave draft messages in my inbox, and I'll read them and delete them as soon as I see them. And she was astonished that he gave her his password. I can only imagine she must have cheered, yeah, I mean, yeah, okay, we'll use your email.

Her husband, Randy, had no idea she was doing any of this. So Shannon started chatting back and forth with Kasser from within his drafts folder. But at the same time, she could see every email coming and going from his inbox. It was unbelievable for her. She was saving everything she could. She just infiltrated an Islamic extremist influencer's email account. Unreal!

Her husband, Randy, had no idea she was doing any of this. So Shannon started chatting back and forth with Kasser from within his drafts folder. But at the same time, she could see every email coming and going from his inbox. It was unbelievable for her. She was saving everything she could. She just infiltrated an Islamic extremist influencer's email account. Unreal!

She kept this going, chatting with him covertly, but then snooping on his emails. But she really wasn't finding anything incriminating on him. There was no smoking gun of things he's done or plans to conduct more terrorist actions. But he was contributing to the jihadist encyclopedia, and extremists respected him. So she thought maybe he could still be useful somehow and kept him close.

She kept this going, chatting with him covertly, but then snooping on his emails. But she really wasn't finding anything incriminating on him. There was no smoking gun of things he's done or plans to conduct more terrorist actions. But he was contributing to the jihadist encyclopedia, and extremists respected him. So she thought maybe he could still be useful somehow and kept him close.

By 2003, she had created a number of fake personas on these forums and chat rooms. She was still using that Abu Zidah persona from time to time, building up its history and credibility. Like one of the things she tried to do with it is get it associated with the Army of the Righteous, or in Arabic it's called Lashkar-e-Taiba. This is a known jihadist militant organization.

By 2003, she had created a number of fake personas on these forums and chat rooms. She was still using that Abu Zidah persona from time to time, building up its history and credibility. Like one of the things she tried to do with it is get it associated with the Army of the Righteous, or in Arabic it's called Lashkar-e-Taiba. This is a known jihadist militant organization.

She figured if she could get Abu Zidah in the Army of the Righteous, she might be able to get info on what the next terrorist attack might be, So when Army of the Righteous would do some terrorist attack, she'd just claim that she was part of it, and she was there for it, or helped out in some way. Or I should say, her made-up persona, Abu Zidah, was claiming to be part of it.

She figured if she could get Abu Zidah in the Army of the Righteous, she might be able to get info on what the next terrorist attack might be, So when Army of the Righteous would do some terrorist attack, she'd just claim that she was part of it, and she was there for it, or helped out in some way. Or I should say, her made-up persona, Abu Zidah, was claiming to be part of it.

She kept up her relationship with Kasser. So all this was building up her social credit in this community. And so with this persona being more established, she was ready to take things a step further. She wanted people to tell her things, incriminating things. What she really wanted to do was stop the next terrorist attack or find info on someone that could lead to an arrest.

She kept up her relationship with Kasser. So all this was building up her social credit in this community. And so with this persona being more established, she was ready to take things a step further. She wanted people to tell her things, incriminating things. What she really wanted to do was stop the next terrorist attack or find info on someone that could lead to an arrest.

And so she really wanted someone to share with her a plan or admit to something they've done so she could take action. But it's hard to know if someone is telling the truth online. There's a lot of noise, and it's hard to find the signal. She also didn't want to encourage anyone to do anything. So it became a really tricky dance, chatting with everyone to try to get the right information.

And so she really wanted someone to share with her a plan or admit to something they've done so she could take action. But it's hard to know if someone is telling the truth online. There's a lot of noise, and it's hard to find the signal. She also didn't want to encourage anyone to do anything. So it became a really tricky dance, chatting with everyone to try to get the right information.

Shannon had a distinct advantage here. She was a court judge and she knew the law. Ultimately, she wanted a prosecution, charges and potential convictions against people who were planning on violence and death. She knew if this ever went to trial, the way she obtained the information needed to be legal and she needed to absolutely make sure that she didn't stray into entrapment.

Shannon had a distinct advantage here. She was a court judge and she knew the law. Ultimately, she wanted a prosecution, charges and potential convictions against people who were planning on violence and death. She knew if this ever went to trial, the way she obtained the information needed to be legal and she needed to absolutely make sure that she didn't stray into entrapment.