Anti-Muslim company鈥檚 bombing tweet the latest in a series of erratic statements and behaviors
The past few weeks and month have been illuminating for those observing the bizarre statements and behaviors of John Guandolo, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist and founder of the for-profit law enforcement training company, Understanding the Threat (UTT).
He and his organization have gained attention and notoriety for passing off anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and stereotypes as professional counterterrorism training.
Recently, Guandolo and UTT have taken the rhetoric to new heights.
Character attacks against Muslim organizations by voices from the anti-Muslim movement are nothing new. However, it is one thing to engage in verbal assaults against an individual or organization, and quite another to call for actual physical violence against a target.
Yet that鈥檚 exactly what the UTT鈥檚 Twitter account appears to have done on October 27, when it posted a tweet claiming the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an American Muslim advocacy group, 鈥渋s a terrorist group,鈥� and ominously declared, 鈥淭hey should be treated as such.鈥� Included at the bottom of the post was what appears to be a manipulated picture of missile strike footage with the words 鈥淐AIR HQ鈥� at the center of the photo鈥檚 crosshairs.
The post was retweeted on the personal accounts of UTT鈥檚 two employees, Guandolo and Chris Allen Gaubatz, who is best known for posing as an intern at CAIR and then stealing its documents.
It also appears that not only is the rhetoric becoming more extreme, but so are the people UTT is seeking to associate themselves with. The same day UTT posted the bombing tweet, it also put up a post promoting a book that has become popular within the anti-Muslim movement, Interestingly the promotion post was tweeted at Jack Posobiec, a聽troll who is infamous for multiple conspiracy theories, such as Pizzagate and the unfounded accusation that Seth Rich was murdered by the Democratic National Committee.
The animosity and paranoia behind these eye-opening posts are not confined to a single day. A few weeks prior, while presenting at a 鈥�seminar鈥� hosted by a group called Counter-Terrorism Cell in Las Vegas, Guandolo the unsubstantiated claim, already by the FBI, that the mass shooting committed by Stephen Paddock was 鈥渁 jihadi鈥� operation. In the same presentation, Guandolo also claimed that there was likely a second shooter. (A person attending his presentation, who said they were familiar with the Mandalay Bay security and floor layout, vociferously disputed Guandolo鈥檚 speculation about a second shooter.)
No longer content with UTT鈥檚 dismissed claim that Las Vegas was merely a 鈥渏ihadi operation,鈥� two days ago Guandolo himself doubled down and upped the ante, asserting, 鈥淣ow reports are circulating that FBI has uncovered Antifa & Islamic State are working together. UTT sources in CA comfirm [sic] it there.鈥�
All of this also comes against the backdrop of legal allegations, first revealed by the , that Guandolo had physically assaulted Hennepin County Sheriff Richard Stanek at a National Sheriff鈥檚 Association conference in August of this year. Two days ago, on October 30, an by a local television station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, broadcast audio from the altercation between Guandolo and Stanek. The news report noted that the claims were quietly dismissed by local prosecutors.
Speaking to 人兽性交鈥檚 Hatewatch, Corey Saylor, Director of CAIR鈥檚 Department to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia noted, 鈥淛ohn Guandolo, and his company Understanding the Threat, can only teach law enforcement what not to do. His wild allegations are a prime example of unprofessional investigative work.鈥�
