Monday, May 11, 2020

Man Investigated By FBI For Doing His Job


Sounds like a truly nightmarish day on the job. Poor guy was just trying to do the work that he was tasked doing, and ends up walking right into a full on mess. Get the dude a raise or something for the hassle. 

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Text - r/tifu + JOIN u/nothintooseahear • 4d TIFU by being investigated by the FBI for doing my job This happened about a decade ago, and l'm finally comfortable sharing this anonymously to the public.

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Text - TL;DR I was tasked with researching a subject for my government job, and asked some questions online that led to me being investigated and eventually interrogated as a potential terrorist by the FBI and NCIS. After I graduated from college, I used to work for the Navy as an engineer and direct federal employee. During my time there I mostly worked on small budget experimental and prototype projects. At one point, our team discussed placing our prototype on an RC airplane for testing purpo

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Text - on my team had much experience with RC planes, but I had a little experience with multirotors from a college senior project. I gladly volunteered to research the subject as it sounded interesting. Initially, I used google to find some RC planes what would meet our requirements. Unfortunately, most RC planes at the time were sold as a frame, and required you to choose an engine, propeller, batteries and other components that affect the capabilities of the airplane. The best place to find i

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Text - these planes was on online forums. Each model of airplane often had its own thread with hobbyist discussing the various configurations and performance characteristics of the plane. I found a particular RC airplane that I thought would meet my team's needs. I hopped on the forum and innocently asked how much weight the plane could carrying and how fast it could go. At first, I received some genuine responses until someone said, "Wait a minute, why are you asking?!" I panicked. I baked up s

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Text - messaged two of the most vocal users who were certain I was a terrorist to let them know I worked for the Navy, and wasn't a terrorist. One user believed me; one called me a liar. I ultimately decided it was time to cut my losses and deleted my account from the forum. We ended up not using RC planes at the time and I thought that was that. I put it out of my mind. About 4 months later, I received a call at 4:30pm from someone I will refer to as Special Agent Smith with NCIS. On the phone,

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Text - Smith asked if I could come visit him at his office right then. My job, at the time, was legally required to be a 9-5. My pregnant wife was expecting me home at about 5:15pm. Sol asked Special Agent Smith how long it would be and what the nature of the visit was. He responded with, "Only about half an hour" and "I'll tell you when you get here." I sent my wife a quick text that l'd be a little late getting home, and headed over to the NCIS office. I left my cell phone at the front desk an

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Text - clicked away at his keyboard filling in a bunch of information into some form. The questions started simple, like, "What are your hobbies?" and "How are you liking your job?" The conversation continued casually with general get to know you questions for the next half an hour to hour. I remember the exact moment when the interview changed to an interrogation. After a short pause, Special Agent Smith changed his tone and asked me why I hadn't mentioned RC planes as a hobby and simultaneousl

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Text - university server. I was also shown printed out conversations from the RC forum where the conversations had occurred about the RC airplanes. The questions quickly changed to, "How do I feel about the president?" "How do I feel about the war?" The tone was no longer casual, and the questions became very pointed. The pointed questions continued for another 30 minutes. Special Agent Smith encouraged me to be completely honest because it would be better for me if I just told him everything. A

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Text - talked to your bosses, so I knew you weren't a terrorist. But, I had to go through the process anyway." I was also informed that from the original forum post about the airplane, someone had reported my username as a potential terrorist to the FBI. The FBI had tracked me down and discovered that I worked for the Navy and then turned the investigation over to NCIS. During the interrogation, I admitted to DMing two strangers and telling them I worked for the Navy. Because I had done this, Sp

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Text - clearance. At that particular location at the time, about the only way to get fired was to lose your security clearance. My wife and I had just discovered we were pregnant with our second child. Our first child left my wife extremely ill, and we had initially suspected she was pregnant because she was beginning to get sick again. Special Agent Smith told me that if I wasn't going to lose my security clearance, I wouldn't hear from him again. However, if there were any issues with my clear

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Text - By the time I left the NCIS office, my wife was panicking. I had disappeared off the face of the planet for a couple of hours and was not answering my cell phone. I returned home, and broke down in tears while I tried to explain to my poor, panicked wife what had happened. My wife and I anxiously waited for news about my clearance, trying not to tell anybody about what was happening out of fear of facing some sort of additional punishment. My wife's health continued to deteriorate with th

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Text - almost ended her life. Even after 4 months had passed, we still felt it hovering over us for quite some time. Through all of this, my bosses found the incident quite humorous. One of them laughingly told a group shortly after the questioning, "They asked me if I would be surprised if nothintooseahear flew a plane into a building tomorrow? I told them nothintooseahear was as American as apple pie!" While he told the group of his experience, I just cringed, fearing retribution from NCIS and

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