We've used the #BurnNotice tag in the past to denote an entity that is in need of special attention. That practice dates back to 2011/2012 and lapsed some time ago.
This is a more traditional sort of #BurnNotice
https://t.co/vXH1B5WABs
Let's put some bounds on this. Those in a #BurnNotice are NOT:
1) people I dislike
2) people I think are competitors in some fashion
3) "feds", whatever you people mean by this undefined term.
4) informants. Got a list of those, too, it's handled differently.
The #BurnNotice is more focused on people who present as if they might be working for Erik Prince:
https://t.co/Ex9B7RQjZR
Or maybe they work for Tiger Swan:
https://t.co/WoLSixHUoq
One of the great faults of grassroots activists is that they think everything is tied to whatever bad actor most recently got immolated. Examples of entities that got roasted include:
HBGary Federal
Gamma Group
Hacking Team
The point here is that there are always corporate and nation state actors in the mix. Their presence is unavoidable, but that doesn't mean that YOU have to get infiltrated and have your time and energy wasted.
That being said, lets examine some primo examples current as of late 2020.
I can think of no better example than "Cody Webb".
The above tweet is a LIE. I know there is an actual person associated with the set of tactics and targets associated with the "Cody Webb" persona. Why does this one get a burn notice?
When I first encountered Cody, he was forever stirring shit in Talib Kweli's timeline. TK is suspended now, but he used to really dish it to right wing loons.
Cody was working on a GINORMOUS RESEARCH PAPER ZOMG at the time.
We had a phone call. He claimed to be a Navy vet, a sub nuclear power plant guy. That's a good cover story, unless, like me, your best friend from highschool was a helmsman on the same class of boat. Having an old boss who was chief petty officer on a Thresher class helped, too.
So in response to inquiries about his experience aboard a nuclear powered submarine, he couldn't change the topic fast enough.
This, by itself, is not disqualifying. Another veteran showed up, tank mechanic, didn't want to talk much about this. His DD214 was fine.
Next, he claims where he lives the only internet access he has is via hotspot. Those are great for non-attribution without a warrant or a drawn out civil process. I have a cell phone on my desk right now that provides this, when I feel the need.
I know two people who legit run hotspot only. One is in Ireland, the other in South Africa. It's not out of the realm of possibility, but it is a bit unusual in the U.S., particular for someone constantly active online.
Third thing that was fishy. The GINORMOUS RESEARCH PAPER. He couldn't explain what he was doing or why. Another case of bad luck - take a look at how many research papers are in my SlideShare. Anything posted there, I've read.
https://t.co/SDXRLVxhhQ
Contributing to this "research" was, for Cody, like a salesman's appeal to a higher authority. Things that didn't make sense for the mark (ie YOU) would be explained as being associated with the research effort.
First
@LibbyInPhilly got a look at Cody's GINORMOUS RESEARCH PAPER. She's a product of Drexel University's psych program, where they read and write A LOT.
Her judgment was that it would not pass IRB requirements.
https://t.co/5sWOgbBLG3
Someone else finally helped Cody with the writing and I saw the final product. It's a confession of recruiting individuals into various sub-groups, then inducing them to engage in infighting.
Precisely the sort of thing Erik Prince pays people to do.
So maybe "Cody Webb" is one of THOSE people.
The other explanation is that he's somewhere on the psychopathy spectrum and he does things like this to service the psychopath's need to "put one over" on victims.
I had intended to cover a couple different cases, but this is getting kinda long.
Spotting someone doing this is HARD. I spoke to him. I had specialized knowledge (submarines, peer reviewed research), I had a similarly skilled peer (Libby) also find him to be "off".
And then I watched him from a distance for about two years, while signs of him doing the same things I'd seen up close continued to surface.
If he's not a paid plant, I'm OK with putting this out now, because he's in the other category - someone who is always going to fuck you.
Recently he's gotten into a mode of trying to discredit Libby. Her work is good - you can see some of it actually published here:
https://t.co/kM1LdAAlNg
Cody has also been all about interfering with the stuff that Libby, Kirtaner, and I are doing. Take the article about 8kun operator Jim Watkins trafficking child pornography as an example.
https://t.co/B25bKexAqh
The pain for Watkins was the first, then there was some suffering for Parler. Next to get time in the barrel will be the person who did the legend for the Q persona, and then ONAforums operator Josh Moon.
You might not like any one of Libby, Kirtaner, or I ...
But given the role those entities play in dragging this country towards civil conflict, if you're not setting aside whatever personal grudges you have and just staying out of the way, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
And that will be assumed to be intentional on your part.
So there you have it. #BurnNotice for a persona (not proven to be a person) whose methods are either those of a paid disruption artist (he's here nonstop) or someone with a character disorder *who would certainly be a tool of such actors*.
Didn't realize how many column inches would be required to explain why I arrived at a certain view regarding the Cody Webb persona. That's enough for now, I'll have to do some more #BurnNotice work later this month.
/ends