Homestate Gal Makes Good Again

October 22nd, 2004 | by Craig |

It’s been just shy of six months since I first posted about Shannen Rossmiller, who makes a pastime of hunting jihadis.

In case you’ve missed my previous posts about Shannen, you can find an article and video at Fox News about her.

I just want to say, for the record, that I’ve corresponded with Shannen off and on since she first came to my attention, and she’s as gracious and humble as can be, and I hold her in the highest esteem.

I mean, for cryin’ out loud, I forward an email on to her and she takes the time to ask after me and my family.

That’s Montana for ya, right there.

She’s also agreed to another interview for us, which I’ll get to RSN. If you should have any questions for her, leave a comment or drop me an email.

  1. 8 Responses to “Homestate Gal Makes Good Again”

  2. By Margi on Oct 23, 2004 | Reply

    What a fantastic lady. I read about her with interest the first time you wrote about her. And you actually have *spoken with her?

    Well, that would be about reason number 3,245 why I think you’re wonderful. :)

  3. By Craig on Oct 23, 2004 | Reply

    I haven’t spoken spoken with her — just traded emails.

    Gosh, Margi, I’m blushing now. :)

  4. By Dani on Oct 23, 2004 | Reply

    I’m curious why Fox would publish her name, hometown and photograph. Thre’ve got to be some jihadis who wouldn’t mind driving over from Seattle to do a little work for Allah.

  5. By Patty on Oct 23, 2004 | Reply

    How cool, I’ll be looking for that!

  6. By Craig on Oct 24, 2004 | Reply

    Dani–

    As Shannen said:

    The only reason I would be worried about being targetted for the counterintelligence work I do would be if one of the operational identities I use were to be exposed and subsequently linked to me. However, I will say one thing that 7-Seas takes very seriously is its members’ security first. When operating online, all tracks which would trace back to me are eliminated and replaced with tracks that would lead someone to believe that I am in any given country, other than the US.

  7. By Dani on Oct 25, 2004 | Reply

    I’m just thinking, don’t terrorists read Fox News?

  8. By Shannen on Oct 25, 2004 | Reply

    You are all too kind! But, I sincerely appreciate the warm comments. I’ll answer the one question as to the possibilities of any jihadis coming after me as a result of this. Simply put, Craig posted my quote on this issue which explains it well. I have a lot of people locally and offically that look out for me and I engage in these activities in a smart and safe way with the respect for those who assist and look out for me always in my thoughts. Spec. Anderson did not have any ties with any jihadi group(s)in any manner. I am not worried about anyone coming after me because he had no associations. I am also not worried about any jihadis coming after me from anywhere else because with all the activity and volume of traffic on the internet and in particular in their part of the world, they would have to suspect ME of something particular to them for them to make the effort. They have not been able to and I doubt they would be able to break our security. Its been tested and we go about things slowly, cautiously, and very well planned out. Nonetheless, your questions are fair and deserve to be answered.

    Thank you so much, Craig for all your interest and sincere, kind words. They don’t go unappreciated. I look forward to the next installment of your interview.

    Shannen

  9. By Mitch E on Feb 21, 2006 | Reply

    I believe this judge is same judge posted about here:

    Montana Judge has been involved in other internet stings

    By ALFRED LUBRANO
    Inquirer Staff Writer

    Posing as an al-Qaeda operative with cash and a desire to destroy America, a former cheerleader who grew up on a Montana wheat farm helped orchestrate a sting that nabbed an alleged terrorist.

    Shannen Rossmiller, a 36-year-old municipal judge from Conrad, Mont., manipulated Michael Curtis Reynolds of Wilkes-Barre into thinking she was a radical Islamist eager to underwrite his plan to blow up American oil and gas pipelines.

    Reeling in Reynolds during six weeks of e-mail exchanges, Rossmiller’s male cyber persona finally persuaded Reynolds to travel to a lonely stretch of Idaho highway to pick up a bag containing $40,000. Instead, Reynolds was met by federal authorities alerted by Rossmiller.

    “I feel compelled to do what I can and I know that I have an ability to do something,” Rossmiller said in a telephone interview Friday night. “I’m out for the hunt.”

    Rossmiller began trolling the Internet for potential terrorists after Sept. 11, 2001. Stunned and angered by the attacks on the United States, Rossmiller read the Koran, studied radical Islamic culture, and learned enough Arabic to lurk in chat rooms and ensnare jihadists.

    She had fractured her pelvis after slipping in the tub, and the convalescence afforded her the time to start her new avocation.
    Since then, Rossmiller said, she has assumed the identities of more than two dozen male personae on the Internet and has been involved in “a large number” of cases hunting terrorists.
    “Something in me changed on Sept. 11,” she said. “It got me focused and I never wavered.”

    In October 2003, Rossmiller posed online as an Algerian terrorist. She befriended a National Guardsman from Washington state named Ryan Anderson, a Muslim convert who wanted to give al-Qaeda information about how to destroy U.S. Army tanks and humvees, court records show.

    With Rossmiller’s help, Anderson was convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison.

    An FBI agent in the Salt Lake City office whose area covers Montana vouched for Rossmiller’s credibility, saying, “She’s legitimate.”

    “I just do what I can and I hope it helps,” Rossmiller said.

    http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/13849335.htm

Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.