Before Muslims were a target, and even now, the FBI did this with "eco-terrorists": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_McDavid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eri

Before Muslims were a target, and even now, the FBI did this with "eco-terrorists": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_McDavid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_McDavid I hope nobody here believes that these cases are instances of the FBI diligently protecting us against legions of terrorists, eco or otherwise, who want to destroy us all. It's very clear all these cases are, if not strictly speaking entrapment, then at least manufactured by the FBI preying on vulnerable people. The real question is, why would they do this? I can think of a few reasons: 1. Personal gain. Everybody in the FBI benefits from a successful case. The agent gets a notch on their belt. Their boss can demand more funding and more toys to capture future "jihadists". The prosecutors get a win and bump up their stats. Even people loosely connected benefit, like the journalists that can cover a juicy story for a few weeks, politicians that can attach themselves, etc.. The only real losers are people that are already isolated and unable to defend themselves. 2. Maintaining an image of social control. If you know that the FBI is bearing down on activists and Muslims, are you going to be as willing to join an activist group, participate in an Occupy-style protest movement, or even go to a protest? You could get tear gassed, you could say something like "Yeah, the banks need to go" to an FBI agent who later testifies that you planned to blow up a bank, it's a hassle, just stay home, the new season of 24 is supposed to be great anyway. Personally, I think both of these are primary reasons; #1 incentivizes individuals to go through this plan, and #2 makes it more likely future plans will succeed by making the system as a whole harder to disrupt. This creates a positive feedback cycle where dissent is slowly marginalized out of existence, and all political discourse is limited to what the Republicans and Democrats delineate as "moderate" ground. And, because the system works, it is basically impossible to change. Combine this with pervasive surveillance and you have permanent techno-dystopia. The FBI uses plenty of software to do this. I hope that if anyone writing that software is reading these comments, they take a moment to consider the consequences of their actions.