FBI agents told people who came to the Oklahoma woman’s home to ask about her online posts that the bureau was questioning her about her social media posts “all day, every day.”
Laura Abdel-Jawad of Stillwater was told by FBI agents who showed up at her home Wednesday that Facebook had given them screenshots of her posts.
Abdel-Jawad told agents she did not want to talk and asked them to show her badge on camera, but they refused, her lawyer Hassan Sibley said in a post on social media platform X. This was revealed in the video. The woman wrote on Facebook that she later confirmed with local police that the people who showed up at her home were actually FBI agents.
“Facebook has provided us with some screenshots of your account,” one of the agents, wearing a gray shirt, can be heard saying in the video.
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An FBI agent told an Oklahoma woman that the FBI spends “all day, every day” questioning people about their social media posts. (Getty Images)
Abdel-Jawad replied: “So, since we no longer live in a free country, does that mean we can’t say what we want?”
“No, you’re absolutely right,” said another agent in a red shirt. “So we’re not here to arrest you or anything. We do this all day, every day. This is to keep everyone safe and to make sure no one has any malicious intent.” It’s just an effort to make it happen.”
“All I did was express my personal opinion on a public social media platform and exercise my rights as an American citizen,” the woman said.
It’s unclear which posts drew the FBI’s attention, but Abdel-Jawad last week expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing war between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists in Gaza, including calling Israel “Israeli hell.” He was making a series of posts.
“It’s Israeli terrorist filth,” she said in one post. “They think Ramadan is a weakness for Muslims, but instead they realize that Ramadan is their strength. #FreePalestine May Allah remove every despicable Zionist and his supporters and supporters May you destroy all of us, Ameen.”
Abdel-Jawad’s Facebook timeline is also publicly available, and FBI agents may have been able to access her posts themselves without having to request screenshots from Facebook.
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Lola Abdel-Jawad was told by FBI agents who showed up at her home that Facebook had given them screenshots of her posts. (St. Petersburg)
Some of her posts warned Muslim communities and pro-Palestinians to be wary of the US government’s surveillance of their activities.
“Don’t be fooled by their games. Our community is being watched and they are just waiting to round us up for some reason,” Abdel-Jawad said on March 24. wrote. Accounts, Google searches, emails, messengers, local mosques, and political events are monitored. #NYC #usa #PoliceState #FreePalestine”
The official policy of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is that Facebook data is not legally protected in response to a court order, subpoena, search warrant, or other emergency situation involving “imminent harm to a child or risk of death or serious injury to a person.” and to provide it to enforcement agencies.
According to Meta’s website, the social media giant received about 74,000 requests from law enforcement agencies in the first half of 2023 and handed over data in 88% of them.
Abdel-Jawad said in a post Thursday that her attorney does not believe that Facebook sent screenshots of her posts to the FBI.
Abdel-Jawad’s Facebook timeline is public, meaning FBI agents could have accessed her posts on their own without the platform having to hand over screenshots. ((Photo credit: Jaap Arrians/NurPhoto, Getty Images))
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“Rather, it seems like a fishing expedition,” she wrote. “I’m not afraid of them. My only concern, which I told the officers, is that someone from my state will do something or they will use my post to ‘smear’ me.” to be used in malicious endeavors. Remember, I am a Muslim and I have a duty to protect creation. I command good things and forbid bad things. ”
In the caption of a video on social media, Shabri said Abdel-Jawad refused to speak without a lawyer and made the right decision to keep them out of his home and record the conversation. But she shouldn’t have gone outside her home to talk to the agent, he says.
“You have the right never to talk to the FBI without an attorney,” he said.
