Networked Media Sampler/Based on a true story/a group
“Don’t worry, you’re boring. “
"A California student got a visit from the FBI this week after he found a secret GPS tracking device on his car, and a friend posted photos of it online. The post prompted wide speculation about whether the device was real, whether the young Arab-American was being targeted in a terrorism investigation and what the authorities would do.
It took just 48 hours to find out: The device was real, the student was being secretly tracked and the FBI wanted its expensive device back."
Different Story's Perspectives
- Afifi ('victim')
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Khalend (Afifi's friend)
- Afifi's Father
- FBI
- Garage-mechanic who found the device
- Company that made the tracking device
- Kim Zetter (Wired article author)
- Former FBI agent (confirmed to Wired that it was a tracking device)
- Afifi's mother
- Afifi's Lawyer
- Afifi's Room-mate
From: Wired
"Brian Alseth from the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington state contacted Afifi after seeing pictures of the tracking device posted online and told him the ACLU had been waiting for a case like this to challenge the ruling.
“This is the kind of thing we like to throw lawyers at,” Afifi said Alseth told him.
From: TPMMuckracker In addition to talking to the media about what happened with the agents, Affifi filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for his FBI file. Affifi received a package via overnight mail on Jan. 26 — the same day that FBI agents told his counsel that they wanted to further interrogate Affifi, according to the suit.
The FBI’s file described Affifi as a “bright hardworking student, trying to support his family…[who] would be great to work for the FBI,” according to the documents he obtained in his FOIA request.
