Report: FBI to increase wiretaps of suspected ISIS supporters
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Two U.S. law enforcement officials say that following the attacks in Paris, the FBI plans to use more wiretaps and other methods to monitor suspected Islamic State sympathizers in the United States.
The move is out of an abundance of caution and not because there are any known threats against the U.S., the officials told CNN, and agents who are investigating ISIS supporters have been instructed to determine if there is any new information that would make it necessary to increase monitoring of the subject.
After the ISIS-inspired shooting in Garland, Texas, in May, some suspected ISIS supporters were monitored 24/7, a move that FBI Director James Comey said stretched the agency's resources and wasn't sustainable, CNN reports. Dozens of people were arrested, and "in some cases we just needed to get people off the street," one official said.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
