John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Jun 11, 2022 7 tweets 7 min read Read on X
The "no guns on #January6th" line keeps cropping up.

It's flat wrong.
There were plenty of guns on #January6th

"I'm the one in the video with the gun right here"

-John Emanuel Banuelos speaking to the police.

Story: @ryanjreilly
nbcnews.com/politics/polit… Image
And who can forget Lonnie Coffman, who brought a small arsenal to DC?

ImageImageImageImage
And then there's Christopher Alberts, indicted for violence against an officer... and carrying a gun with him on #January6th.

His Taurus semiautomatic had a round in the chamber and 12 in the clip.

justice.gov/usao-dc/defend… ImageImageImageImage
Guy Reffitt helped lead a push at the Capitol.

He was found guilty of a bevy of crimes... including bringing a loaded gun.

And threatening his own son to keep him quiet.

A holster under his jacket is visible in footage by @FordFischer.

justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/tex… ImageImageImageImage
And let's not forget the #OathKeepers who brought & stashed a load of serious weaponry in a nearby hotel for their "Quick Reaction Force"

Source: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… ImageImage
[VIOLENT FOOTAGE] I could go on posting about guns at the #January6th insurrection...

But don't be distracted by the "no guns" lie from the absolute wave of violence that was visited upon the #Capitol & DC police using every available weapon.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with John Scott-Railton

John Scott-Railton Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @jsrailton

Jan 23
NEW: US seeks extradition of Israeli private spy over sprawling hacking against 🇺🇸American nonprofits.

Amit Forlit's alleged customer? US lobbying firm @DCIGroup... representing @exxonmobil

Extradition filings in UK give fresh peek into this wild case 1/Image
Image
Image
Image
2/ The case was triggered back in 2018, when US-based nonprofits targeted by hackers requested that @citizenlab notify the authorities.

In 2020, we went public with the investigation, alongside @jc_stubbs @razhael & @Bing_Chris 👇

3/ Fast forward to today's efforts to extradite Amit Forlit, who was arrested at Heathrow last year.

He's actually the second Israeli private investigator charged in this massive hacking scheme targeting Americans.

The first, Aviram Azari, was arrested in 2019, convicted & is serving out his sentence.

justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/i…Image
Image
Image
Read 7 tweets
Dec 23, 2024
The volume of scam phone calls targeting elderly people in the US is insane.

Anyone that has visited an aging person knows what I'm talking about.

Ring after ring.

Several calls a day isn't out of the ordinary each of them a risk of wiping out their savings.

It's an untenable situation and will only get worse without focused government action.
Phone predators constantly target your parents.

Foreign scam call centers are running on an industrial scale.

Efforts phone companies are making are obviously not up to the task.

Just ask any retired person you know when they last got a scam call.
The constant phone scamming of elderly Americans is like an opportunistic infection.

It is a symptom showing that the US phone system's defenses against foreign abuses are diminished.

With increasingly clever AI/ deepfake voices & automation, the problem is set to get worse.
Read 4 tweets
Dec 23, 2024
VPN advertising is the most common source of security misinformation that I encounter.

By far.

So many people misplace their trust in dubious consumer VPN products.

The industry is a scourge.
VPNs don't do most of the things that podcasters imply they do.

Security:
Coffee shop attacks on unencrypted logins are a thing of a decade ago.

VPNs won't stop even the dumbest spyware & phishing.

Privacy:
Advertisers still know it's you when you turn on a VPN... they use many other identifying signals from your device, like your browser & advertising IDs. Those don't change when you turn on a VPN.
Trust:
A lot of VPN companies are shady.... and the industry is consolidating fast around some questionable players with concerning histories.

When you turn on a VPN you entrust all of your data to those companies.
Read 7 tweets
Dec 21, 2024
BREAKING: NSO Group liable for #Pegasus hacking of @WhatsApp users.

Big win for spyware victims.

Big loss for NSO.

Bad time to be a spyware company.

Landmark case. Huge implications. 1/ 🧵Image
Image
Image
Image
2/ In 2019, 1,400 @WhatsApp users were targeted with #Pegasus.

WhatsApp did the right thing & sued NSO Group.

NSO has spent 5 years trying to claim that they are above the law.

And engaged in all sorts of maneuvering.

With this order, the music stopped and NSO is now without a chair.Image
Image
3/ Today, the court decided that enough was enough with NSO's gambits & efforts to hide source code.

Judge Hamilton granted @WhatsApp's motion for summary judgement against the #Pegasus spyware maker.

The judge finds NSO's hacking violated the federal Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (#CFAA), California state anti-fraud law #CDFA, and was a breach of contract.

What happens next? The trial proceeds only on the issue of resolving damages stemming from NSO's hacking.

Order: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…Image
Read 12 tweets
Dec 18, 2024
NEW: US considering ban on @TPLINK routers.

Company has a majority of the US market share for homes & small biz.

Concerns stem from repeated use in cyberattacks from #China & concerns over supply chain security.

Reportedly an office of @CommerceGov has subpoenaed the company. 1/

Story by @heathersomervil @dnvolz & @aviswanathaImage
Image
Image
Image
2/ @TPLINK has quickly grown market share, even as concerns have grown over vulnerabilities in the routers being used in #China-linked hacking operations.

wsj.com/politics/natio…Image
3/ As Microsoft's @MsftSecIntel reported earlier this year, for example, #TPLINK routers make up the bulk of the CovertNetwork-1658 attack infrastructure.

This operator was conducting so-called password spray attacks, and taking steps to be discrete.

The credentials are then used by multiple #China-based threat actors....

microsoft.com/en-us/security…Image
Image
Image
Image
Read 4 tweets
Dec 18, 2024
Use only end-to-end encrypted communications says @CISAgov.

YES!

End-to-end encryption is critical infrastructure for a safe society.

Plenty of other solid guidance for mobile users at risk here.

Let's look at their #iPhone & #Android-specific recs... 1/Image
Image
Image
2/ @CISAgov's top recommendation for Apple users is to✅ enable #LockdownMode

It's my top guidance for high-risk #iPhone users..

Because as researchers tracking sophisticated threats we see Lockdown Mode blunt advanced attacks...

Other solid guidance:

✅Protect your DNS
✅Disable fallback to SMS
✅Enroll in iCloud Private Relay
✅Trim App permissions.Image
Image
3/ @CISAgov's guidance for #Android starts from the unavoidable fact that many Android manufacturers truly don't respect users security or privacy.

So ✅pick a company that won't leave you insecure after 2-3 years.

Other good guidance here includes...
✅ Only use RCS with end-to-end encryption
✅ Using Android Private DNS
✅ Use Enhanced Protection for Safe Browsing
✅ Google Play Protect
✅ Manage permissions.

cisa.gov/sites/default/…Image
Image
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(