Report: FBI to increase wiretaps of suspected ISIS supporters

The FBI seal.
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.