Federal Bureau of Investigation

Is Anonymous Hacktivist Barrett Brown a Journalist? His Supporters Say So.

The media has had a hard time labeling Barrett Brown. "Anonymous spokesman" doesn't fit because Anonymous is too anarchic and loosely organized to have a spokesman. For the same reason, he's not the collective's "self-proclaimed" spokesman, though he did have more than his share of media appearances ... More >>

The Mesh Mask Bandit Has Robbed 17 Banks, is Wanted by the FBI, and Loves Nylon Tracksuits

The man the FBI has dubbed the "Mesh Mask Bandit" struck first on New Year's Eve, robbing a Northwest Highway BBVA Compass at gunpoint. Since then, he's robbed an average of about one bank a week, at first sticking to Dallas proper but eventually working his way out to Garland, Carrollton, Addison, ... More >>

From West to Boston to China: Terrible Things Happen. You Have Two Weeks to Get Over It.

Just so people won't get caught unaware, I want to point out that the town of West has until a week from tomorrow to grieve. That will be two weeks from the time of the industrial accident that blew up their town, took the lives of loved ones and left behind a legacy of bloody suffering and agonizin ... More >>

If You Spotted Serial Killer Israel Keyes in North Texas Last February, the FBI Would Like to Speak with You

Israel Keyes, an itinerant construction worker and Army vet, spent much of the past decade crisscrossing the United States, carrying out kidnappings, robbing banks, and murdering at least eight people, according to Time. His crime spree came to an end on March 13, when he was pulled over in Lufkin ... More >>

Price is Wrong

How John Wiley Price spun money he didn't have into real estate gold.

Feds Say Man in Prison For Tax Fraud Tried to Have Federal Judge Killed

Phillip Ballard figured he was looking at at least 20 years. He'd already been in the federal lock-up in Fort Worth since July, and things weren't looking good in his criminal case, which centered on seven counts of tax fraud. For almost a decade he had, according to an indictment in the case, clai ... More >>

Was Anonymous' Cheese Pizza Prank a Success? The FBI's Silence is Deafening.

The reaction of Anonymous members to the arrest in Dallas Wednesday night of Barrett Brown, the group's self-proclaimed spokesman, was as swift as it was inevitable. Within hours, members had posted the names, home addresses and other identifying information of 13 federal employees, most of them inv ... More >>

Feds Say Ex-Lover's Boyfriend Called in Bomb Threat That Grounded DFW-Bound Flight

Christopher Shell had a pretty terrible day yesterday. First, his Dallas-bound plane was turned around in midair after someone phoned in a bomb threat. When the plane landed in Philadelphia, he was taken into federal custody because the caller had said he was the one carrying liquid explosives. When ... More >>

That Bomb Threat That Grounded DFW-Bound Plane? Just a Hilarious Birthday Prank.

This morning, law enforcement officials received an anonymous tip that liquid explosives had been carried onto a U.S. Airways jet bound from Philadelphia to DFW. The plane was in mid-flight when it was called back to the Philly airport, where it was immediately surrounded by heavily armed police. A ... More >>

County Blocks Access to John Wiley Price This Morning at Commissioners Court

Most Tuesdays when the Dallas County Commissioners Court ends, reporters throng the dais to pepper the commissioners with questions. The question that was on the tip of everyone's tongue this morning was "Hey John Wiley Price. Did you really embezzle and launder all that money like the FBI guy said? ... More >>

Now, They Find White Powder at the Crowley Courthouse

In the wake of yesterday's announcement that the FBI is offering $150,00 for information leading to the arrest of a local Scooby Doo lover who also likes sending white powder-filled envelopes to preschools and such, people are on their toes. Dallas Fire Department spokesman Jason Evans sends word th ... More >>

Almost Three Years After FBI Raided Downtown ISP, Its CEO Is Found Guilty of Conspiracy

​Way back in April 2009, you may recall, FBI agents raided Core IP Networks, an enormous Internet service provider HQ'd out of 2323 Bryan Street downtown. It made national news, in part because the feds' raid temporarily disabled some 50 clients' Web sites. At the time, the FBI would only say sear ... More >>

Chambers of Secrets: Lunacy and Paranoia Reach Fever Pitch at Dallas County. Again.

​We're all innocent until proven guilty. The police can investigate hell out of somebody, and that person may turn out to be pure as the driven snow. But there's another reality in the world having to do with an old cop saying: "Crime makes you stupid." Frankly, the behavior of Dallas County J ... More >>

On City Hall Ethics, Mayor Mike Passes the Buck

​So let's see if we can ride this circus train. Mike Rawlings runs for mayor pledging to clean up the "ethics" issue at Dallas City Hall. And if I may offer a small correction here at the top, I think right now it's not really so much an ethics issue at City Hall as an FBI issue. Not to quibbl ... More >>

And Now, "Artists Slammin' Cointelpro for Our Man Downtown John Wiley Price"

​That's the full title of the latest JWP protest being staged by the National Black United Front, not to be confused with the Judean People's Front or the Popular Front of Judea, who will return to the Pan-African Connection Bookstore across the street from Fair Park, scene of last month's overhea ... More >>

"Raising Hell Till Heaven Comes": At Sunday's Fund-Raising Rally For John Wiley Price

​Yesterday's "Justice for John" event at the St. Luke "Community" United Methodist Church was all kinds of things: a rally in support of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, who entered to chants of "John! John! John!" before taking his seat near the back; a fund-raiser for his legal defen ... More >>

Why Do County Commissioner John Wiley Price's Supporters Distrust the FBI? History.

​Wilonsky and I attended the John Wiley Price rally together yesterday. He has already done a fine job here reporting on what happened. The only reason I would even open my mouth is in response to some of the comments I see in response to his item. One commenter asked what's wrong with John F ... More >>

Mike Rawlings Vowed to Clean Up Dallas, But the Feds Are Spilling Dirt Everywhere

To keep his promise, Dallas' new mayor will have to distance himself from the city's political machine. Good luck with that.

The John Wiley Price Affair: Suddenly, a Few People Are Looking a Whole Lot Smarter

​Last week I was talking to a very well-known Dallas television investigative reporter about the Dallas County federal corruption probe. I won't name him here, because it was a personal call to discuss something else. But he made a point that kept coming back to me all through the long holiday ... More >>

FBI Confirms: It's Conducting Searches of John Wiley Price's Office and Home Right Now

​Jim's on his way to Dallas County HQ at this very moment to watch with his own eyes as FBI agents search the downtown offices of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, as initially reported by KTVT-Channel 11. The CBS station also notes that "federal investigators have also been dispatched ... More >>

Nigerian Soccer Star Buried in Africa, As Family Challenges Little Elm PD's Suicide Ruling

Uche Okafor, a soccer star in Nigeria, played for Major League Soccer's Kansas City Wizards in the late '90s.​In the two months since Nigerian soccer star and Major League Soccer alum Uche Okafor was found dead in his Little Elm home, press from his home country has followed the blow-by-blow betwe ... More >>

FBI Arrests Mesquite PD Officer in Charge of Narcotics Unit for Stealing $2,000

​The U.S. Attorney's Office just sent word: This morning, FBI agents arrested John David McAllister, a sergeant with the Mesquite Police Department -- and the head of its four-man Narcotics Unit. Says the release, back in December the feds got a tip that McAllister was skimming off the top during ... More >>

As Part of "Operation Payback," Dallas Server Company Raided By FBI In WikiLeaks Probe

​A virtual jaunt 'round the Western Hemisphere has led FBI investigators to anonymous users who appear to have used servers from a Dallas-based server company to disable and disrupt PayPal after the money-wiring site froze a WikiLeaks donations account earlier this month. The Smoking Gun has excer ... More >>

Dallas's Safest Neighborhood? Says Here ...

​This just in from WalletPop: Westgrove Drive is one of the Safest Neighborhoods in America. And how, exactly, did WalletPop come up with this infotainment? Using exclusive neighborhood crime data developed by Dr. Andrew Schiller's team at NeighborhoodScout.com, and based on FBI data from all 17,0 ... More >>

For Trying to Blow Up Fountain Place, Hosam Smadi's Sentenced to 24 Years in Prison

​It was late on September 24, 2009, that the U.S. Attorney's Office sent word that FBI agents had arrested then-19-year-old Hosam Maher Husein Smadi for plotting to blow up Fountain Place on Ross Avenue -- a plot intercepted by federal agents, who ultimately provided the Jordanian-born Smadi with ... More >>

Legal Briefs: A Peek at Fred Baron's FBI File, and Cathedral of Hope's Prop. 8 Response

​Whilst awaiting a sit-down with a source, allow me to marry two unrelated legal matters, baby:Texas Watchdog has been Freedom of Information Act-ing out, requesting from the FBI the files of several "prominent Texas political figures" once they've expired. Today's installment is ... Fred Baron, t ... More >>

FBI Confirms It's Investigating, With Arlington PD, a Series of Recent Attacks on Mosque

​The Council on American-Islamic Relations just sent word of that a handful of incidents at the Dar El-Eman Islamic Center in on Mansfield Road in Arlington in recent days have sparked an investigation involving the Arlington Police Department and the FBI. Says the release, on Sunday someone set i ... More >>

Data Collector Quoted in DMN Crime-Stats Story Now Says "I'll Take Kunkle's Side"

Patrick MichelsIs Kunkle a numbers-fudger or simply exercising good judgment in dealing with confusing federal guidelines?​Another front-page story last week in The Dallas Morning News criticizing the Dallas Police Department's crime-reporting methods had the paper in a self-congratulatory mo ... More >>

In Corruption Trial, Defense Keep Asking, "But What About Laura?" (Again, Live Bloging)

Well, looks like the frequent mentions of former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller in the federal Dallas City Hall corruption trial ain't just Dixie. The defense clearly plans to argue that the FBI should have gone after Miller, because she took a ton of money from developer Brian Potashnik, who's agreed t ... More >>

Dallas Theater Center's Engrossing, Heretical Take on the Civil Rights Movement

The Good Negro bares roots of a movement; in Oak Cliff, a bumpy ride in Leonard's Car; Mummy dearest for tweens

Homicide or "Honor Killing": The Debate Resumes Following FBI Posting

Spy vs. Why

Logic goes out with the intrigue in ho-hum "thriller" Traitor

Celebrity Secrets and Other Stuff You Already Knew

Ace Up His Sleeve

Joe Carnahan's overly slick, heavily edited dark comedy works despite itself

Highway Robbery

Crime doesn't pay? Tell that to truck cargo thieves.

A Real Double Feature

Angel Mayor

Depending on this FBI probe, Miller gets either her wings or the boot

Not so public

Don't read over a fibbie's shoulder

Shoe One

...was the FBI. Watch out, City Hall. Shoe Two's comin'.

Best Way to Be Famous and Not So Much at the Same Time

Being a member of The Polyphonic Spree

Protection Racket

John Wiley Price has Bolton's back, and we all suffer for it

Echoes of Hate

Bobby Frank Cherry is one of the most notorious racist killers in American history. To Tom Cherry, he was just "Dad."

Dirty or Duped?

Who's to blame for the fake-drug scandal rocking Dallas police? Virtually everyone.

Better Safe

Crop dusters contend with a slew of post-attack regulations

Lucky break

The O'Hair case gets a boost from a trio of hapless thieves

Wayward son

The Irving stepmother of a man linked to the shootings of abortion doctors wrestles with questions about his involvement

Should Paul Fielding go to jail?

He's violated the public trust and betrayed his own ethical standards. But is Dallas' perpetually annoying councilman guilty of fraud, perjury, and extortion?

Joe Bob Briggs

Drive-In Movie Critic of Grapevine, TX

True crime story

Forget the usual tales of rape and pillage--consider the sins of corporate America

Fax Commandos

Why the press is chasing after the wrong right-wing cranks