An FBI surveillance contractor infiltrated two airline industry groups who opposed vaccine mandates, according to an investigation by journalist Lee Fang.
FBI Focused on Anti-Vaccine Groups
The surveillance contractor, Flashpoint, formerly focused on infiltrating Islamic terror groups, but now concentrates on “anti-vaccine” groups and domestic political organizations.
During a webinar presentation for clients last year, Flashpoint analyst Vlad Cuiujuclu demonstrated the company’s methods of identifying and entering encrypted Telegram chat groups.
Flashpoint offers clients artificial intelligence and internet scraping tools. The firm is a leader in the “threat intelligence industry,” which creates fake online identities to infiltrate Discord chats, WhatsApp groups, Reddit forums, and dark web message boards.
Joshua Yoder, president of US Freedom Flyers, stated that he is aware that Flashpoint infiltrated private chat groups associated with his organization.
Airline Workers Were Vocal About Inoculations
Aviation industry workers were some of the most vocal and organized against COVID-19 vaccine mandates. US Freedom Flyers brought a lawsuit against Atlas Air, one of the largest air cargo carriers in the aviation industry, in May 2022.
Flashpoint advertises its surveillance success on its website, providing examples of its work undermining environmental activism, G20 protests, and protests against the aviation industry. The webpages describing these activities were taken down after Fang published his investigation.
Flashpoint are the Governments Experts in Terrorism
Flashpoint was founded by Evan Kohlmann, former NBC News contributor, who investigated Islamic terror groups and was described by The Intercept as “the U.S. government’s go-to expert witness in terrorism prosecutions.”
Flashpoint has shifted its focus from “surveilling Muslims after September 11” and “followed the money into both the Pentagon’s information warfare programs and the business of monitoring domestic protest groups.”
Flashpoint has had a steady stream of contracts from the FBI, the Department of Defense, Treasury Department, and Department of Homeland Security, among other agencies, according to Fang.
The company formalized a partnership with Google Cloud last month.
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