Hundreds arrested in FBI-led global organized crime sting using messaging app
08 June 2021
Law enforcement officers have used an encrypted app to arrest hundreds of suspected organized crime figures around the world in a three-year operation led by the FBI, authorities in Australia announced Tuesday.
Driving the news: Authorities decided to use the An0m messaging app to track suspects globally in an investigation called Operation Ironside after Aussie police officers and FBI agents discussed the matter over "a few beers" in 2018, according to police in Australia.
- It's resulted in raids in places including Australia, New Zealand, Asia, South America and the Middle East, according to Australian authorities.
- Australian police said Tuesday members of outlawed motorcycle gangs were among 224 people arrested in the country, while their counterparts in New Zealand said 35 people had been taken into custody.
What they're saying: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a briefing the operation "has struck a heavy blow against organized crime ... one that will echo around organized crime around the world."
- Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said at the news conference that the FBI "had the lead on this," while Aussie police "provided the technical capability to decrypt those messages."
- "Some of the best ideas come over a couple of beers," he added.
- The FBI could not immediately be reached for comment.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.