Sort of... As ericlewis0's diary documented yesterday, the user behind the provocative Twitter account “Australi Witness” has been identified as Joshua Ryne Goldberg. I say “provocative” because this account, nominally a supporter of Da'ish (ISIS/ISIL/IS), was used by Goldberg to provoke violence by Islamists against the AFDI shit-fest in Garland, TX (accomplished, see criminal complaint §§ 10-13), against an unspecified target in Melbourne, Australia (unaccomplished, § 14) and against the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb in Kansas City, MO (unaccomplished, §§ 15-33). The FBI criminal complaint relates specifically to the latter: “Title 18, United States Code, Section 842(p) – Distribution of information related to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction.” Posing as a Da'ish activist was, of course, but one of Goldberg's assumed identities. As ericlewis0's diary notes, and as supplemented by links in one of my comments to that diary, he also assumed the identity of Melbourne lawyer and human-rights activist Josh Bornstein to post bigoted screeds at the Times of Israel site. Goldberg also created an identity by name of "Tanya Cohen" to post seriously over-the-top parodies of a left-wing human-rights activist whom he employed as a foil for his views on “Social Justice Warriors.” On the Goldberg/Cohen association, see yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald article “Unmasking a Troll: Aussie 'Jihadist' Australi Witness a 20-Year-Old American Nerd”:
[Goldberg] admitted responsibility in conversations with McMahon for multiple other online personalities including neo-nazi "Michael Slay", and a parody of a left-wing human rights activist, "Tanya Cohen". Research into his fake accounts showed that they were almost always linked back to his own Twitter handle, @MoonMetropolis, via retweets or comments. In some cases they interacted directly with Goldberg's victims.
Sound familiar? It should:
TanyaCohen1's diary “Shooting at Geller Hate-a-Thon Shows the Need for a Hate Speech Law in the US” (07 May 2015) was so over-the-top as to be ridiculous, and several kossacks recognized such at the time. Much of the text of that diary was lifted from pieces published by the pseudonymous Tanya Cohen at Thought Catalog, where Goldberg also wrote. No particularly deep analysis here, but rather just an interesting note that we here at The Great Orange Satan were trolled by the most infamous troll and terror-enabling wanker du jour. And while I recognize the general rule against callout diaries, I think this one merits an exception. To misquote Sally Field: "They hate us! They really hate us!"