In 2018 National Geographic released a documentary about the United States Secret Service titled "United States Secret Service: On the Front Line." It is touted as "an unprecetended behind the scenes look" at how the Secret Service protects the Pesident of the United States of America. The first 40 minutes of the documentary are about President Trump's visit to the ASEAN conference in Manila in November 2017. It is in this section where we are told for the first time ever that President Trump was targeted for assassination by ISIS.
I have edited the documentary to include only the relevant clips about the alleged ISIS assassin. You can watch the clip here:
Let's analyze this clip and see if the claims of the Secret Service claims make any sense. First of all we meet Audrey Gibson of protective intelligence. She says:
There is credible information that an incident could occur during ASEAN. This is a map of the threat actors that are present in this country. The more prominent colors on the bottom, those represent ISIS and ISIS affiliated groups. As of this week the Philippines has escalated to a critical threat level. The battle of Marawi lasted approximately from May and ended in October of this year. So, for five months the Philippine government and ISIS was engaged in a conflict. This is really significant because it's the only major city outside of the Middle East that was held by ISIS. During those five months these ISIS fighters were able to hone and develop tactics and their skill set: IED's, snipers, grenades. It's easy to obtain anything from a small fire arm to military grade weapons. So, although the government liberated Marawi the threat remains that these terrorists could travel north and conduct retaliatory attacks and it has been factored into the security plan. Thank you.
If there is one take away from this brief speech it is that the US government, unlike the Philippine government, was taking the threat of ISIS seriously back in 2017. Audrey warns that there could be retaliatory attacks by ISIS during the ASEAN meeting and even says the threat is very credible. Harry Roque was saying the exact opposite.
Roque assured the public that there are no monitored terror threats so far in Manila and elsewhere in the country.
“The Philippine government has no information about any increased terror threat in the country and we assure our foreign friends that local authorities have been enforcing tight security measures, especially in populated areas while we urge everyone to continue being aware of one’s surroundings,” he said.
Prior to their arrest, authorities monitored Jikiri's Facebook page where they reportedly saw "hints" of a plan to launch terrorist attacks in Metro Manila.
Jikiri posted photos of high-powered firearms, improvised explosive devices with a caption which said that they were to be used against “non-believers and Muslim apostates.”He also posted photos of the places he supposedly planned to target including a mall and a park. Dela Rosa said Jikiri also “cased” the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), the venue of the ASEAN Summit.
Police found photos of him and “other armed youth” in his Facebook page. The posts prompted police to launch a background investigation and found that he was indeed a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group, linked to the Maute-Islamic State (ISIS) group which led the Marawi siege.
Police Director Oscar Albayalde, National Capital Region Police Office chief, said monitoring social media is part of police intelligence-gathering.
Police said Sabtalin and Jhofar were linked to Jikiri as they met with the Abu Sayyaf member and were “supporters.”
The police tracked the men with the help of the National Bureau of Investigation and found them together at Salaam Compound in Barangay Culiat, Quezon City.
That sounds like Audrey Gibson was totally justified in giving her warning that a terrorist attack COULD happen during the ASEAN meeting. But this is NOT the assassination plot against Trump. That is something completely different.
The next person we meet is Ruben Rivera-Perez who is a research specialist. His job is to monitor social media for possible threats. And boy does he find one.
This guy just posted a concerning post. "Gonna be in Manila at the same time as Trump. I'll take one for the team lads." And there's a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald. And I mean, that's pretty concerning because he says, "I'll take one for the team lads." It may show that he's got others maybe working with him. Let's go to his Instagram. Just because he made a veiled threat saying I'm on my way to Manila and Trump's gonna be there that doesn't necessarily mean anything. It doesn't raise the hair on the back of my neck. Now, when I'm looking through his social media after the initial threat we're looking for weapons, or anything, any comments that are nonsensical. That's, that's concerning.
Scrolling around on this alleged threat's Instagram page Ruben finds the following two images:
So, this is definitely a red flag, a book that says "how to kill." We will investigate him. I'm gonna let Audrey know.
Ruben believes a post reading "Gonna be in Manila at the same time as Trump. I'll take one for the team lads" is worth researching further. He then says he is looking for pictures of weapons or nonsensical comments on the suspects social media but instead finds that the suspect is reading a book about the history of assassins and decides that makes his post a credible threat. Is Ruben really on the internet all day sifting through endless chatter to ferret out threats to the President? If so how does he not know that the phrase, "I'll take one for the team, lads" is a meme used by 4chan and 8chan. I'd be rather surprised if ISIS used that kind of speech.
This person's social media posts are a far cry from that of the Abu Sayyaf member who was arrested for planning a terrorist attack in Manila during the ASEAN. There are no pictures of weapons or buildings or any indication that this person is a bonafide terrorist. In fact, in the selfie it appears he is a white guy from Europe. Whatever city that is it's definitely not in the Philippines.
Next the narrator says
Ahead of the President's arrival, the threat level in Manila is critical.
Just how critical is it? Analyst James Swanson tells us:
For the threat levels we're not seeing the organized presence of ISIS. They're spelling out right now as the possibility of the threat from lone wolves. It's possible there moving up here so that's why they're the main concern right now. Do we want to look into Facebook threat?
Audrey: That's a little concerning the language which reads, "Gonna be in Manila at the same time as Trump. I'll take one for the team lads" uh, posted a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald. Um, also posted a photo of the current book he is reading, How to Kill the Definitive History of the Assassin. I don't know if we have an identity on this guy as of yet but it looks like he's got a few different social media platforms he uses one of his platforms, Twitter, says that he is currently in Manila. Um, maybe a couple different aliases so we probably need to see if we can run down what we can get on this guy.
At this point the Secret Service still has no idea the identity of this alleged threat. Note that they also admit there is no organized presence of ISIS in Manila at the time they are filming which is days before Trump arrives. Does that sound critical? Instead they are focused on "the possibility" of lone wolves which this anonymous threat could be.
Using the surveillance technology Edward Snowden warned us all about the Secret Service verifies that this person is really in Manila. Audrey Gibson reports to her boss:
So, we have some updates for you on the Facebook guy first off. We are still tracking him. We are aware of generally where he is. There is an active warrant so we're hooking this guy up.
But then comes the big reveal. James Swanon says:
Um, so we've learned actually earlier that ISIS operatives could be coming to try to disrupt at ASEAN.
His boss then tells the camera:
The big thing over here is that ISIS is very prevalent. Protective intelligence was giving us a lot of good information and they were able to figure out a member of ISIS made furtive movements to come to Manila.
The narrator says:
An ISIS operative in Manila, his whereabouts and agenda unknown.
Audrey just said they know where their suspect is and even have a warrant out for him. So that can't be the lone wolf ISIS member right? Wrong. The narrative from here on out will be that the person who posted a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald is an ISIS operative who made his way north. The switch from anonymous internet poster to lone wolf ISIS assassin is rather abrupt and makes no sense given what is known about this person which is practically nothing. Remember no weapons or actual threats or any indication this person is a terrorist has been found on his social media. Only a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald and a book about the history of assassins.
In the final section of this clip there are just 20 minutes before Trump arrives and the suspect has yet to be caught.
Behind closed doors protective intelligence briefs lead agent Chad Reagan on the location of the ISIS operative.
Audrey: Our guy is in contact with an associate in Luneta Park, a mile north of our RON.
Chad: We'll work to get some assists over there. As luck would have it Audrey tracked him over to a park very close to our hotel. It's unnerving to us because he shows up right before wheels down.
Back to the narrator:
Working in conjunction with the Philippine National Police, known as the PNP, agents have eyes on the ISIS operative and his associate.
Finally we are shown a large contingent of police vehicles swarming Luneta park as the man is arrested and the clip ends.
Now, this is all patently ridiculous to anyone paying the slightest attention. Somehow this anonymous internet poster goes from being wholly unknown to a bonafide member of ISIS and they find him at Luneta Park which is a rather popular place. Are we really to believe that this person knew exactly where Trump was staying or intended any real harm and that was why he was in the park? How would he have known Trump's location when that was a secret? Is there a mole inside the Secret Service? Compare Mr. "I'll take one for the team, lads" to the Abu Sayyaf member who posted pictures of weapons and actual threats of violence. They don't compare in the least. One is a real terrorist and the other sounds exactly like a shitposter of which the internet is full. He is even using their language when addressing the "lads."
If a lone wolf ISIS member bent on assassinating President Trump was arrested in Luneta Park in November 2017 during the ASEAN why did no one report on it at the time? The ASG members were reported on by Rappler but were not mentioned at all in this documentary despite being the larger and more realistic potential threat. Why is that?
Nothing about this scenario comes off as true. If a lone wolf would-be ISIS assassin had been arrested in Manila during the ASEAN in 2017 that would have been huge news that no one would have been able to conceal. It's unfathomable that this incident went unreported for over a year only to be revealed in a National Geographic documentary. The details of the case also don't make sense. Whoever posted the picture of Lee Harvey Oswald is clearly not a Filipino or a member of ISIS. Reading a book about the history of assassination is not a crime and is not a red flag. If it were then why was it allowed to be published?
While this nonsense may make for good enough TV to entertain the masses, anyone paying attention to the real threat of terrorism in the Philippines will be able to see right through the charade. Without any concrete evidence such as a mugshot and a police report this claim that an ISIS operative bent on assassinating Trump was arrested in Manila is totally bogus.
