(UnitedHeadlines.com) – While questioning a woman in Stillwater, Oklahoma, about a post she made on Facebook, an FBI agent admitted that the FBI monitors speech on social media and questions people about their posts “every day, all day long.”
The comments came after FBI agents showed up at the home of Rolla Abdeljawad, claiming they were at her house because Facebook had given them screenshots of her posts, which allegedly contained anti-Israel comments. While recording the interaction, Abdeljawad asked the agents to show their badges on camera, adding that she did not want to talk with them. She asked the agents if “we no longer live in a free country” that has the freedom of speech. An agent then answers, “We totally do,” adding that the FBI agents do this “every day, all day long.” The agent says they are not at her home to arrest her but are there as part of “an effort to keep everybody safe” and make sure there is no “ill will.”
In the Facebook posts the FBI agents were referring to, Abdeljawad referred to Israel as “Israhell” and warned about government surveillance on social media accounts if “You’re Muslim and/or pro-pal.”
On March 27, Abdeljawad’s attorney, Hassan Shibly, posted the video of the interaction to social media. Shibly said while the FBI has the authority to investigate Americans, the case suggests that, regardless of the First Amendment, the government is monitoring free speech. Shibly said the FBI targeting residents in such a way is “unfortunately normal behavior.”
According to a Facebook post that Abdeljawad made following the interaction, she did confirm the people who showed up at her home were FBI agents after talking with the local police.
In a statement, Kayla McCleery, a representative for the FBI’s Oklahoma City office, said that FBI agents engage daily “with members of the public” to “protect the American people and uphold the Constitution.” McCleery added that an investigation cannot only be opened based on activity protected under the First Amendment.”
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