FBI Arrests Suspected LulzSec and Anonymous Hackers

The FBI arrested two alleged members of the hacking collectives LulzSec and Anonymous on Thursday morning in San Francisco and Phoenix, FoxNews.com has learned.

Search warrants were also being executed in New Jersey, Minnesota and Montana, an FBI official told FoxNews.com.

One individual was described as part of the LulzSec group, the other part of the group that calls itself Anonymous, the official said.

Cody Kretsinger, a 23-year-old from Phoenix, Ariz., was charged with conspiracy and the unauthorized impairment of a protected computer, according to the federal indictment unsealed Thursday morning.

Kretsinger, who goes by the online name "recursion," is believed to be a current or former member of LulzSec and is accused of being involved in the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Kretsinger and other coconspirators are accused of using a hacking technique called a SQL injection to obtain confidential information from Sony's computer systems.

According to the indictment, he and coconspirators distributed stolen information by posting it on LulzSec's website before announcing the attack on Twitter.

In order to evade law-enforcement detection, Kretsinger erased the hard drives used to carry out the Sony attack, the indictment said.

He is expected to appear in a Phoenix federal court Thursday afternoon.

Members of the Los Angeles FBI field office also arrested an alleged member of Anonymous in San Francisco. The suspected hacker is homeless and alleged to have been involved in cyberattacks on Santa Cruz County government websites, an FBI official said.

LulzSec is a splinter group from the “hacktivist” collective Anonymous, a loose collection of cybersavvy activists inspired by WikiLeaks and its head Julian Assange to fight for Internet freedoms — along the way defacing websites, shutting down servers, and scrawling messages across screens web-wide. While Anonymous is largely a politically motivated organization, LulzSec’s attacks were largely done “for the lulz” — Internet slang meaning “for the fun of it.”

Both groups have been targeted by the FBI and international law enforcement agencies in recent months.

In July, FoxNews.com broke the news that 16 alleged Anonymous members had been arrested in the U.S. and the U.K. Several high profile leaders of the group have been arrested since, including two individuals believed to be among the founders of LulzSec — and who shared the online name "Kayla."

The metropolitan police in London arrested the first alleged member of the LulzSec group on June 20, a 19-year-old teen named Ryan Cleary. Subsequent sweeps through Italy and Switzerland in early July led to the arrests of 15 more people, all between the ages of 15 and 28.

The two groups are responsible for a broad spate of digital break-ins targeting governments and large corporations, including Japanese technology giant Sony, the U.S. Senate, telecommunications giant AT&T, Fox.com, and other government and private entities.

Broken Tail Trim in Nevada Air Crash Doubled Plane's 'G-Load,' Caused Pilot to Black Out, Expert Says

Seat: The P-51 Mustang airplane is shown right before crashing at the Reno Air show on Friday. The pilot is absent from the cockpit, leading a mechanic to suggest the pilot's seat may have broke free


The deadly Nevada air racing disaster that killed 11 people may have been caused by a missing tail trim that doubled the plane's "G-load" and made the pilot pass out, an aviation expert tells Fox News.

The WWII-era P-51 Mustang fighter plane -- named the Galloping Ghost -- crashed in Reno during an air race Friday, killing 11 people and injuring at least 70 others.

The National Transportation Safety Board is examining photographs taken before and after the disaster for any clues into the crash.

Pilot and aviation expert Blake Mathis told Fox News Wednesday that a broken tail trim seen in one of the photos likely caused the plane to speed upwards into the sky, creating a "tremendous G-load" that made pilot Jimmy Leeward pass out.

For anyone, not just a man of Mr. Leeward’s age, it could have caused him to black out or pass out," Mathis said. "It could even snap someone’s neck if they’re not prepared for that."

Mathis' theory comes a day after an aviation mechanic said another photo suggests the pilot became dislodged in the cockpit as a result of a broken seat

Aviation mechanic J.R. Walker told Fox News that Leeward would have been seen in the photo even if he had passed out and was slumped in his seat.

Walker, who has worked on similar planes, suggested that Leeward’s seat may have slipped back, causing him to lose control of the plane.

3rd 'Fast and Furious' Gun at Border Agent Murder Scene

This undated photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian A. Terry.


New Allegations of Cover-Up in 'Fast and Furious' Scandal



A third gun linked to "Operation Fast and Furious" was found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, new documents obtained exclusively by Fox News suggest, contradicting earlier assertions by federal agencies that police found only two weapons tied to the federal government's now infamous gun interdiction scandal.

Sources say emails support their contention that the FBI concealed evidence to protect a confidential informant. Sources close to the Terry case say the FBI informant works inside a major Mexican cartel and provided the money to obtain the weapons used to kill Terry.

Unlike the two AK-style assault weapons found at the scene, the third weapon could more easily be linked to the informant. To prevent that from happening, sources say, the third gun "disappeared."

In addition to the emails obtained by Fox News, an audio recording from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent investigating the Terry case seems to confirm the existence of a third weapon. In that conversation, the agent refers to an "SKS assault rifle out of Texas" found at the Terry murder scene south of Tucson.

The FBI refused to answer a detailed set of questions submitted to officials by Fox News. Instead, agency spokesman Paul Bresson said, "The Brian Terry investigation is still ongoing so I cannot comment." Bresson referred Fox News to court records that only identify the two possible murder weapons.

However, in the hours after Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010, several emails written to top ATF officials suggest otherwise.

In one, an intelligence analyst writes that by 7:45 p.m. -- about 21 hours after the shooting -- she had successfully traced two weapons at the scene, and is now "researching the trace status of firearms recovered earlier today by the FBI."

In another email, deputy ATF-Phoenix director George Gillett asks: "Are those two (AK-47s) in addition to the gun already recovered this morning?"

The two AK-type assault rifles were purchased by Jaime Avila from the Lone Wolf Trading Co. outside of Phoenix on Jan. 16, 2010. Avila was recruited by his roommate Uriel Patino. Patino, according to sources, received $70,000 in "seed money" from the FBI informant late in 2009 to buy guns for the cartel.

According to a memo from Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley, who oversaw the operation, Avila began purchasing firearms in November 2009, shortly after Patino, who ultimately purchased more than 600 guns and became the largest buyer of guns in Operation Fast and Furious.

Months ago, congressional investigators developed information that both the FBI and DEA not only knew about the failed gun operation, but that they may be complicit in it. House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, fired off letters in July requesting specific details from FBI director Robert Mueller and Drug Enforcement Administration chief Michele Leonhart.

"In recent weeks, we have learned of the possible involvement of paid FBI informants in Operation Fast and Furious," Issa and Grassley wrote to Mueller. "Specifically, at least one individual who is allegedly an FBI informant might have been in communication with, and was perhaps even conspiring with, at least one suspect whom ATF was monitoring."

Sources say the FBI is using the informants in a national security investigation. The men were allegedly debriefed by the FBI at a safe house in New Mexico last year.

Sources say the informants previously worked for the DEA and U.S. Marshall's Office but their contracts were terminated because the men were "stone-cold killers." The FBI however stopped their scheduled deportation because their high ranks within the cartel were useful.

In their July letter, Issa and Grassley asked Mueller if any of those informants were ever deported by the DEA or any other law enforcement entity and how they were repatriated.

Asked about the content of the emails, a former federal prosecutor who viewed them expressed shock.

"I have never seen anything like this. I can see the FBI may have an informant involved but I can't see them tampering with evidence. If this is all accurate, I'm stunned," the former prosecutor said.

“This information confirms what our sources were saying all along -- that the FBI was covering up the true circumstances of the murder of Brian Terry," added Mike Vanderboegh, an authority on the Fast and Furious investigation who runs a whistleblower website called Sipsey Street.

"It also confirms that the FBI was at least as culpable, and perhaps more culpable, than the ATF in the (Fast and Furious) scandal, and that there was some guiding hand above both these agencies (and the other agencies involved) coordinating the larger operation," Vanderboegh said.

Asked about the new evidence, Terry family attorney Pat McGroder said, "The family wants answers. They'd like to put this to rest and put closure to exactly what happened to Brian."

Serial Killer David Berkowitz Says He Won't Seek Parole in 2012

Serial Killer David Berkowitz












Convicted serial killer David Berkowitz -- who terrorized New York in the late 1970s, killing six people and wounding seven -- will not seek parole during his next opportunity in May, Berkowitz told FoxNews.com exclusively.

In a two-page letter to FoxNews.com, Berkowitz, also known as "Son of Sam," said he has "no interest" in parole thanks to forgiveness by Jesus Christ. Berkowitz, 58, has previously been denied parole five times.

"I have no interest in parole and no plans to seek release," Berkowitz wrote FoxNews.com in an Aug. 6 letter. “If you could understand this, I am already a 'free man.' I am not saying this jokingly. I really am. Jesus Christ has already forgiven and pardoned me, and I believe this."

Berkowitz, who killed six people and wounded seven others in 1976-77, was dubbed the "Son of Sam" after a note left at a crime scene read: "I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam." After intense manhunts and widespread public panic throughout New York, he was arrested in 1977.

New York legislators later passed the so-called "Son of Sam" law, which bars criminals from profiting from their crimes by selling their stories to publishers.

He is currently serving six sentences of 25 years to life at the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, N.Y., where he has been incarcerated for 34 years.

Carole Weaver, a spokeswoman for the New York State Division of Parole, said Berkowitz has been a model inmate with just one minor infraction on his disciplinary record from 2004. Details of that incident were not immediately available.

Berkowitz's claim, however, that he never plans to seek freedom is "unusual" among inmates, she said.

"Not many people who are incarcerated don't want to get out," Weaver told FoxNews.com.

Berkowitz told FoxNews.com he has been housed in the prison's general population for roughly 23 years and he currently works as a "mobility guide" for legally blind inmates, as well as an "inmate program aid" [sic] for mentally challenged prisoners.

"I also help out in the facility's chapel, where I assist in overseeing our Sunday services plus other services and Bible studies," Berkowitz wrote FoxNews.com. "My main activities are sharing my story of redemption and hope with those on the outside, as well as writing a monthly journal which can be viewed at Ariseandshine.org."

Berkowitz said he reads the Bible daily and needs to devote more time to exercising regularly.

"I'm a hyperactive, always 'on the go' type person," the letter continues. "But I've often been told that I do not take enough time for myself."

Berkowitz -- who shot his victims with a .44-caliber handgun, usually as they sat in cars -- said he has no problems with other inmates and has "made the best" of his time behind bars, thanks in part to his devotion to Jesus Christ.

"He has given me a whole new life, which I do not deserve," he wrote. "And while society will never forgive me, God has. I am forever grateful for such forgiveness, too."

He also told FoxNews.com he has "deep regret and sorrow over my past criminal actions."

"I would do anything if I could go back and change things [to] have prevented the tragedy from happening. Of course this is not possible," he said.

Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert

A book celebrating suicide bombers has been found in the Arizona desert just north of the U.S.- Mexican border, authorities tell Fox News.

The book, "In Memory of Our Martyrs," was spotted Tuesday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent out of the Casa Grande substation who was patrolling a route known for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs.

Published in Iran, it consists of short biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died carrying out attacks.

According to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents, "The book also includes letters from suicide attackers to their families, as well as some of their last wills and testaments." Each biographical page contains "the terrorist's name, date of death, and how they died."

Agents also say that the book appears to have been exposed to weather in the desert "for at least several days or weeks."

Authorities told Fox News that there were no people in the area at the time the book was found, and no arrests have been made in connection with it.

"At this time, DHS does not have any credible information on terrorist groups operating along the Southwest border," a Department of Homeland Security official said in a statement. "We work closely with our partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities and as a matter of due diligence and law enforcement best practice, report anything found, no matter how significant or insignificant it may seem."

Statements from U.S. officials, including FBI director Robert Mueller, have raised serious concerns in recent years over "OTMs" -- or illegal immigrants other than Mexicans -- who have crossed the southwest border at alarming rates.

Mueller testified before the House Appropriations Committee in March 2005 that "there are individuals from countries with known Al Qaeda connections who are changing their Islamic surnames to Hispanic-sounding names and obtaining false Hispanic identities, learning to speak Spanish and pretending to be Hispanic."

Just last year, the Department of Homeland Security had in custody thousands of detainees from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. U.S. Border Patrol statistics indicate that there were 108,025 OTMs detained in 2006, compared to 165,178 in 2005 and 44,614 in 2004.

Authorities would not release a picture of the book to Fox News, or reveal how long they believe it was lying in the desert. Immigration officials have previously discovered items along the U.S.-Mexico border from Middle Eastern origin, including Iranian currency in Zapata, Texas, and a jacket found in Jim Hogg County, Texas, that was covered in patches including an Arabic military badge that illustrates an airplane flying into a tower.

IRS Under Scrutiny After Pro-Israel Group Cries Discrimination

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman

The IRS is under increasing scrutiny in the wake of a lawsuit filed by a conservative Jewish organization accusing the federal agency of discriminating against groups whose policies are not aligned with the Obama administration.

Z Street, a Pennsylvania-based group, claims the Internal Revenue Service stalled its application for tax-exempt status because of its support for Israel.

But in an affidavit obtained by FoxNews.com, the IRS says the application was delayed because of concerns that the group may be providing resources to organizations within Israel, one of many Middle Eastern countries that the agency says has a higher risk of terrorism.

"This is unbelievable. It is astounding," Lori Lowenthal Marcus, president of Z Street, told FoxNews.com. "It's treating an entity that supports Israel as if it's supporting terrorism." She added that the government is equating Israel to a country like Yemen. "That's still a constitutional violation."

The group, which was founded in November 2009, filed its application in January and the lawsuit in August.

The IRS declined to comment on the lawsuit.

"Our privacy laws do not allow us to comment on a particular taxpayer," the agency said in a written statement.

In the lawsuit, the group says it was notified in July by an IRS agent that its application was "at least delayed, and may be denied because of a special IRS policy in place regarding organizations in any way connected with Israel."

The agent also said that the applications of many pro-Israel groups had been assigned to a "special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization's activities contradict the administration's public policies," the lawsuit says.

According to the complaint, the agent questioned whether the group's activities were "educational as described under Section 501(c) (3) of the code, but instead might be lobbying, or that Z Street might be an action organization, which is the case when the only way to accomplish the purpose of the organization is through legislation."

The group later revealed a letter from a different IRS agent to an unidentified group asking whether it supports the existence of Israel and what the group's religious beliefs are toward the Jewish nation state.

"There is something very serious, and very wrong, in the process the IRS is using to allocate tax exempt determinations, and Z Street is committed to exposing and righting that wrong," Marcus said.

Now, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, is seeking answers. The watchdog sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the IRS seeking records documenting the agency's efforts to obtain information about the policy positions of tax exempt groups or groups seeking the status.

"We haven't reached any conclusions about the lawful or unlawfulness about those questions," Anne Weismann, chief counsel for CREW, told FoxNews.com.

"I certainly think it is the case that government agencies cannot ask questions that implicate First Amendment rights without legitimate purpose," she said. "We want to make sure what the IRS is doing is legal and the policy is being applied in an even-handed manner."

Marcus applauded CREW's FOIA request.

"We are gratified that CREW is trying to get to the bottom of the use by the IRS of its legitimate investigative power to engage in illegitimate and apparently politically motivated questioning," she said in a statement to FoxNews.com. "Can you imagine the media explosions if the government expended resources looking into an organization's views on abortion or homosexuality?"

The government is seeking to dismiss the case now. In the affidavit, the IRS says applications are flagged when they indicate resources may be provided to groups in a country with a higher risk of terrorism.

But the agency added that a delay in the application process doesn't mean the group supports terrorism, "only that further development is necessary to ensure that the organization will put procedures in place to prevent resources from being used to support terrorism."

Marcus said she's "absolutely in shock" that the government has revealed this policy -- one that she described as casting suspicion on "anything you do in Israel might be supporting terrorism because terrorism happens in Israel."

Some law experts aren't convinced that the IRS did anything illegal.

"All you have are allegation and a complaint. I don't know what they can prove," said Douglas Laycock, a law professor at the University of Virginia who reviewed the complaint. "The allegations might be true, but not plausible. This is an agency with strong incentives to be apolitical, and since the Watergate scandal they have a pretty good record of being apolitical."

Laycock added that the agency's claim that it is investigating whether the group is supporting terrorists in Israel is "legitimate"

"Israel is our ally but not everyone in Israel is our ally," he said. "So what the IRS is saying is not inherently implausible. Israel is in the Middle East and a lot of that stuff happens over there. If that's what they're genuinely worried about, they can hold up the application."

Mark Stern, an attorney for the American Jewish Committee, a passionate supporter of Israel, told FoxNews.com that the U.S. sometimes groups Israel with other Middle Eastern countries to avoid suggesting Arab states are the only ones held in "special suspicion."

Stern, who said he doesn't endorse the practice, said previous administrations have done it too.

He also said Z Street is unlikely to win its case against the IRS.

"If they think they're going to win a constitutional violation claim, they have a lesson coming to them," he said, arguing that the courts are not going to second-guess the IRS judgments. "There's no constitutional right to a tax-exempt status."