What's the SD on the duo arrested in DC yesterday?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So the facts are fairly obvious. Two people were arrested for impersonating federal agents:

Haider Ali, 35, and Arian Taherzadeh, 40, were arrested on Wednesday in a dramatic FBI raid of a D.C. Navy Yard luxury apartment complex on charges of impersonating federal officers.
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The Wednesday search, Rothstein said, uncovered “ballistic vests, body armor, gas masks, tactical law enforcement breaching equipment, zip ties, handcuffs, firearms storage cases for large and small arms,” as well as body cameras and a “drone consistent with what’s used by SWAT teams.”

The feds, Rothstein said, also found small arms, ammunition, and attachments for a long gun and “sniper spotting equipment.”

Taherzadeh and Ali were accused in an FBI affidavit on Wednesday of trying to “ingratiate” themselves with a number of Secret Service agents who lived in the Navy Yard complex, giving agents gifts while themselves posing as members of the Department of Homeland Security.
Prosecutors Seek Detention For DC Duo Who Allegedly Posed As Federal Officers, Citing Foreign Travel - TPM – Talking Points Memo

But that kind of begs more questions than it answers. In isolation there is no gain to be had in either bribing secret service agents, impersonating federal agents or owning paramilitary police gear. That is all typically a means to some other nefarious end. To use the classic Simpsons formulation:

Step one: bribe secret service agents, impersonate federal agents and aquire paramilitary police gear.
Step two: shrugs
Step three: Profit!

What is step two here according to the assembled dopers?

2

According to any number of political thrillers I’ve read, the ultimate plot is to make the President vulnerable to assassination.

3

It does indeed sound like an elaborate plot from a paperback thriller that will kidnap the president. Except for the bit where they get caught because they post pictures on Facebook and beat up a mailman.

4

Come to think of it, in every single thriller I can remember, the plot gets foiled and the President survives.

5

South Park, not Simpsons.

6

That was South Park.

7

Damn, dumb meat brain. I would have put money on it being Simpsons, I can even visualize the scene.

8

I am more concerned with the idiot Secret Service agents. How can they possibly believe that taking a free apartment/penthouse worth up to $50,000 a year is a good idea? What does this say about the hiring practices of the agents?

9

Only under enhanced interrogation will we ever find out what the plot really was and how it was supposed to be executed.

The big question in my mind is are these two lone gunmen, or part of a larger group they haven’t found yet, or were they working for someone or some organization? Other than a big financial payoff, what do they gain by kidnapping a sitting US president or their wife? What were their demands going to be?

I wouldn’t be surprised if they are tied to some white supremacist or MAGA organization… but are those groups really that dumb?

10

What they hoped to gain would depend on where those particular Secret Service agents were assigned, I would think.

11

Reports say one of the agents was assigned to Jill Biden, which I’d guess also puts him in proximity to the President.

12

That was the Simpsons episode where they were going to kidnap Nelson Mandela. :slight_smile:

13

Yes, indeed.

14

Yeah though typically by the barrel chested hero solving the clues and catching them at the last minute. Not because they beat up a mailman and get caught early doors.

15

I doubt if people with Middle-Eastern sounding names would be involved with MAGA or white supremacists.

16

Well, with names like Haider Ali and Arian Taherzadeh, they are obviously WASPs.

17

That article tells a lot more that they were up to. The two of them rented five apartments in a brand new apartment building. And as noted, they were working with quite a big budget. Doesn’t sound like they were two lone wolves. They’re working for/with someone or some group bigger than just themselves.

18

“First you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women.”

19

I’m thinking, Iranian (or another major middle east power) looking for blackmail material?

20

That would sound like ordinary run-of-the-mill espionage. But then what was the point with all the weapons and shit they had?