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The device appears to resemble a “pressure cooker bomb”, similar to the type of explosive used in the Boston Marathon attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHowever, one of those apparent representatives of Islamic State has now been revealed as an America-based, non-Muslim online hoaxer.<\/p>\n
The Australian Federal Police do not intend to apply for Goldberg’s extradition, but said in a statement that he faced a 20-year prison term if convicted.<\/p>\n
“Investigations by the AFP in June 2015 established no initial threat to the Australian community. When investigations determined it was likely the person responsible for these threats was based in the United States, the investigation became the jurisdiction of the FBI, with the AFP in a support role.”<\/p>\n
AFP Acting Deputy Commissioner National Security Neil Gaughan\u00a0alleged Goldberg had “relied on the internet providing a cloak of anonymity”.<\/p>\n
“This operation again highlights how law enforcement can investigate people in the online space and use our long-established partnerships to work with overseas agencies to bring people to account for their actions”.<\/p>\n
An affidavit sworn at the time of the arrest\u00a0says that, between\u00a0August 19 and August 28, Mr Goldberg “distributed information pertaining to the manufacturing of explosives, destructive devices, or weapons of mass destruction in furtherance of an activity that constitutes a Federal crime of violence”.<\/p>\n
US\u00a0Attorney Lee Bentley III, said\u00a0Goldberg instructed a confidential source how to make a bomb similar to two used in the Boston Marathon bombings two years ago that killed three people and injured more than 260\u00a0others.<\/p>\n
He allegedly\u00a0instructed someone how to\u00a0fill the bomb\u00a0with nails, metal and other items dipped in rat poison.<\/p>\n
Police base the charge on his communication of five web links\u00a0to\u00a0sites that provided instructions that could be used to make explosives\u00a0as part of a plot to explode a bomb on September 13 at a memorial ceremony in Kansas City, commemorating the 9\/11 the terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n
The affidavit, released by Special agent William Berry of US Customs and Border Protection, says that Goldberg had initially denied to officers that he had any involvement with distributing information on how to make a bomb, but then later admitted it.<\/p>\n
“Goldberg further admitted that he believed the information would create a genuine bomb,” Agent Berry alleged.<\/p>\n
However, Goldberg also claimed that he meant for the person he was communicating with to either kill himself creating the bomb or, that Goldberg intended to warn police in time\u00a0so that he would receive “credit for stopping the attack”.<\/p>\n
In conversations with Fairfax Media, which were also cited in the affidavit, Mr Goldberg had said he did not expect any jihadist to actually carry out an attack because: “These guys are pussy keyboard warriors”.<\/p>\n
Fairfax media can also reveal that Goldberg, as Australi\u00a0Witness, is suspected\u00a0of a number of other online hoaxes, including posing online as prominent Australian lawyer, Josh Bornstein.<\/p>\n
Australi Witness’s\u00a0online actions might have had fatal real-world consequences in May.<\/p>\n
In the leadup to an exhibition in Garland, Texas, at which\u00a0pictures of the Prophet Mohammed were to be displayed, “Australi Witness”\u00a0tweeted the event’s address\u00a0and reposted a tweet urging people to go there with “weapons, bombs or with knifes”.<\/p>\n
Two Muslim men attempted an attack at the exhibition, and\u00a0were killed by police.\u00a0Australi Witness then praised them online as martyrs.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.smh.com.au\/content\/dam\/images\/g\/j\/k\/8\/b\/j\/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x0.png\/1441933863787.png?w=640\" "\\"\\"")
A tweet from Australi Witness. Photo: Twitter<\/i><\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAustrali Witness\u00a0also urged followers to target Australian cartoonist Larry Pickering, who has previously depicted the Prophet Mohammed.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Australi Witness\u00a0persona fooled members of the international intelligence community as well as journalists, with well-known analyst Rita Katz of SITE Intelligence Group saying the “IS supporter”\u00a0held a “prestige” position in online jihadi circles and was “part of the hard core of a group of individuals who constantly look for targets for other people to attack”.<\/p>\n
Ms Katz has previously acted as a consultant for US and foreign governments and testified before Congress on online terrorist activities.<\/p>\n
The Australian Federal Police were unaware of Australi Witness’s real\u00a0identity as Goldberg\u00a0until contacted by journalists working on behalf of Fairfax Media.<\/p>\n
In the\u00a0Bornstein hoax, Goldberg\u00a0established a blog on the Times of Israel in the lawyer’s name before posting an inflammatory article calling for the “extermination” of Palestinians. The Times retracted<\/a> the article and apologised, and Bornstein went public<\/a> with the story saying “I deplore racism\u2026I’ve fought racism since I was four years old”.<\/p>\n When confronted, Goldberg boasted he had avoided detection, saying, “That guy has no idea. He thinks [online radical right wing website] Daily Stormer did it.” He also said he wanted to obtain Bornstein’s real life address, in order to “freak him out even more”.<\/p>\n In conversations and in articles written under his real name, Goldberg repeatedly professed\u00a0to be an advocate for free speech, and showed\u00a0disdain for organisations and individuals who call for limits on hate speech or hate speech laws.<\/p>\n As\u00a0Australi Witness, he\u00a0publicly linked himself to\u00a0Amnesty International, saying that he used to work there. The fake jihadi also claimed a friendship with anti-Islamophobia campaigner Mariam\u00a0Veiszadeh, but only to smear her reputation.<\/p>\n In online conversations, Goldberg said:\u00a0“I wanna smear Amnesty and Mariam Veiszadeh\u2026Amnesty is already in hot water over their links to CAGE, I wanna cement their jihadist connections and ruin their reputation. And Mariam is a Muslim whore, so smearing her as a jihadist should be easy.”<\/p>\n Ms Veiszadeh\u00a0said she was not suprised at Goldberg’s arrest, saying she had “fallen within his radar” because of the campaign by an anti-Muslim hate group, the\u00a0Australian Defence League, who\u00a0campaigned to “incite hatred and violence towards me from across the globe.”<\/p>\n Mr Bornstein declined to comment.<\/p>\n Elise Potaka is a journalist for SBS<\/strong><\/p>\n Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A young Jewish\u00a0American man has been charged with pretending to be an Australian-based Islamic State jihadist\u00a0after a\u00a0FBI joint investigation with the Australian Federal Police based on information provided by Fairfax Media. Joshua Ryne\u00a0Goldberg, a 20-year old living at his parents’ … Continue reading