I don’t like to jump to conclusions personally, but it looks incredibly suspicious
yeah I was thinking this, oh hey they put him on the poster as part of the op, but also if he was working for you, seems like a dangerous move
I mean its just like burning an asset though–he can’t really be used for undercover work as easily after, and it’s a specialized type of work. Like sure, they can find something else for him to do, but my understanding is you typically try and maintain cover indefinitely, having your big mug on a widely distributed digital wanted poster that internet dorks can spend hours squinting at is non-ideal. kinda like when bellingcat blows FSB dudes cover. Sure, there’s loads more of those dudes waiting to go poison people, but they’re specialized operatives, and don’t just grow on trees… If he is truly part of an OP, my guess would be that the FBI isn’t in on it, much like there was lots of internal compliance at capitol police and DHS, etc, but FBI is now dropping the hammer on participants. On the other hand, I guess the other way to look at it is that this was some informant/chud they co-opted, used like a burner phone and don’t have any future plans for, in which case, the wanted poster would be intelligent to use.
If he’s sitting in an office or police station in Virginia somewhere surrounded by feds or cops who know who he is, he’s in no danger. And if he’s walking around with a badge, even if some out-of-the-loop cop stops him (which he’s at zero risk of anytime he’s in uniform) it’s more of an inconvenience than any real risk.
