Twitter Destroys Fake Terrorism Expert For Smearing Airport Workers As Terrorists (TWEETS)

By
Darrell Lucus
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Whenever right-wing radio hosts and podcasters want “analysis” on the war on terror, they usually call on “experts” whose “commentary” usually amounts to fearmongering about Islamists and jihadists hiding under every rock. Well, one of the foremost practitioners of this genre may have finally gone too far. He got sliced, diced, and julienned after falsely accusing an airline employee as a closet terrorist.

For most of the last decade, one of the go-to terrorism “experts” on the right-wing fringe is former FBI agent John Guandolo. According to his “analysis,” Muslim interfaith outreach is nothing more than a stalking horse for a jihadi invasion, and Trump protesters are on the payroll of jihadist interests.

But it turns out his other stock in trade is sniffing out potential terrorists among us. Last fall, while flying out of LaGuardia Airport, he tweeted pictures of two TSA agents whom he suspected of being jihadists. His “proof”? They were dark-skinned men with beards.

He pulled a similar stunt on Saturday while flying to Phoenix on Southwest Airlines for the Western Conservative Conference, where he appeared alongside such luminaries as Joe Arpaio, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Corey Lewandowski, Joseph Farah, Herman Cain, and James O’Keefe. He spotted a black Southwest employee with a beard, and felt it was his patriotic duty to alert his followers to another jihadist in our midst.

In what world is this acceptable? Guandolo’s act of “patriotism” put an innocent man at risk of being harassed or worse. Within minutes of Guandolo blasting out this tweet, the condemnation came in fast and hard. Many Twitter users demanded that Southwest and Twitter take action.

By Saturday night, Southwest responded with a burning tweetstorm condemning Guandolo’s stunt for the pigweed that it was.

By Sunday, the tweet had disappeared. It looks like Twitter deleted it at the behest of Southwest and others.

But a number of users want Southwest to go further and ban Guandolo from ever flying on the airline again.

https://twitter.com/KaptainKimbro/status/977736739883282432

It’s hard not to agree. It cannot be stated enough–Guandolo’s misguided act of “patriotism” put an innocent man in serious danger. In response, Southwest says that it’s “looking into the situation.”

But then again, considering what we know about Guandolo, this was to be expected. His entire brand is built on a transparent lie. As he tells it, he was fired in 2008 because he wouldn’t shut up about the Muslim Brotherhood extending its tentacles into the FBI. In truth, he resigned rather than face certain termination for carrying on an affair with a key witness in the corruption trial of former Congressman William Jefferson.

That little stunt nearly derailed the case. After Jefferson’s conviction in 2009, his lawyers claimed that they should have had a chance to delve more into Guandolo’s behavior. However, the judge rebuffed them and sentenced Jefferson to 13 years in prison. Jefferson didn’t actually start his sentence until his appeals ran out in 2012.

That stunt was reason enough to wonder how Guandolo even got into the FBI in the first place. Well, add another reason to the list. He apparently finds it acceptable to smear innocent workers with false accusations that they’re jihadists. Southwest needs to take a stand and ban him from ever flying with them again. Ever.

(featured image: screengrab courtesy YouTube)

Darrell Lucus
Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.

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