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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Two Killers Eluded FBI Hunt for 'Lone Wolves'

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(Newser) – The shootings of George Tiller and a National Holocaust Museum guard came despite a renewed FBI effort to preempt solo acts of political violence, the Wall Street Journal reports. Identifying such extremists—while respecting their civil rights—is a challenge. Both James von Brunn and Scott Roeder expressed their views online, but neither set off any warning bells at the bureau's "Operation Vigilant Eagle," a 6-month-old initiative in response to evidence of stepped-up activity among violent extremists. 

“The FBI does not have the capability to know when a person gets up in middle America and decides: ‘I’m taking my protest poster to Washington or I’m taking my gun," says a former counterterrorism official. The lone-wolf initiative has emphasized finding individuals who had been shunned by groups as too radical, or who left groups they deemed insufficiently radical—something neither von Brunn nor Roeder did.

The FBI evidence response team arrives at the US Holocaust Museum after a gunman opened fire at the museum in Washington Wednesday, June 10, 2009.
The FBI evidence response team arrives at the US Holocaust Museum after a gunman opened fire at the museum in Washington Wednesday, June 10, 2009.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
An FBI investigator works at the doors of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, Thursday, June 11, 2009.
An FBI investigator works at the doors of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, Thursday, June 11, 2009.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A police handout image of James von Brunn, who opened fire at the National Holocaust Museum.
A police handout image of James von Brunn, who opened fire at the National Holocaust Museum.   (AP Photo/Talbot County Sheriff Office)
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4 comments
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plstyle
Jun 15, 09 11:50 AM CDT
Theres one or two posters on Newser that come to mind when i read this article. I'm sure they've been flagged Reply
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kokuaguy
Jun 15, 09 12:43 PM CDT
Flagged here and by the FBI one would hope. Reply
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TerrifiedCitizen
Jun 15, 09 2:31 PM CDT
Imitation Christian fanatics who kill others to make their bizarre points are no different than their far eastern cousins who depart from their mandate of love whenever it suits their own personal brand of intolerance. Reply
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Reader83090665
Jun 15, 09 8:04 PM CDT
FBI is right. Lone wolves are the most elusive perpetrators and the hardest to surveil and catch. Reply
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