Website apparently linked to ex-TSA worker has anti-American rants - Los Angeles Times
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Website apparently linked to ex-TSA worker has anti-American rants

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Authorities are investigating a personal website that appears to be connected to the ex-TSA worker accused of making 9/11-related threats against Los Angeles International Airport, sources said.

The website published several rambling letters signed by Nna Alpha Onuoha that include references to 9/11 and the “end of the world.” There is also a rant about a June incident that sources said led to Onuoha’s TSA suspension when he chastised a teen girl about her attire.

One 34-page letter identifies Onuoha as the author, listing a birthdate and place that match public records and information provided by sources. The author discusses his devotion to Jesus Christ and what he calls his “divided spirit” and war with Satan.

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Another 17-page letter harshly criticizes the United States, saying “America is nothing but a great Harlot that corrupts the innocent.” The letter, dated Aug. 25, promised to deliver a “real message” on Wednesday, the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“On the day that I release the message...even the once mighty American government that gloats with arrogance will be reduced to nothing just like the nothing that she is,” the letter reads. “Do not expect another 9/11. What will unfold on this day and on the days ahead will be greater than 9/11.”

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At the same time, he denounced Al Qaeda and said, “I am not a person of terror.”

Onuoha, 29, was taken into custody in Riverside late Tuesday after he allegedly made threats against LAX terminals earlier in the day, following his resignation from his post as a screener with the Transportation Security Administration.

Onuoha, an immigrant from Nigeria who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2005, was living in Inglewood at a home for U.S. veterans. Sources told to the Times that he served in the U.S. Army.

After his suspension Tuesday, Onuoha left a resignation letter and a package at the TSA’s LAX office which contained unspecified threats against the airport, a law enforcement source said. A LAPD bomb squad inspected the package and determined that it contained no explosives or harmful substances, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

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The package, however, contained an eight-page letter in which Onuoha expressed his thoughts about the incident that led to his suspension and his disdain for the United States, Eimiller said.

A source familiar with the investigation told The Times that Onuoha is the same agent who was suspended after he criticized the daughter of Mark Frauenfelder, founder of the blog boingboing.

The incident was widely reported because Frauenfelder took to his site in June, saying the agent “humiliated and shamed my 15-year-old daughter.” He included a picture of his daughter’s outfit.

“It doesn’t matter what she was wearing, though, because it’s none of his business to tell girls what they should or should not wear,” he wrote. “His creepy thoughts are his own problem, and he shouldn’t use his position of authority as an excuse to humiliate a girl and blame her for his sick attitude.”

The TSA issued an apology and said they were reviewing the incident.

One of the online letters attributed to Onuoha opened with references to Frauenfelder and his daughter. The author states he will “never apologize” for the incident, and mocks a message Frauenfelder included when he blogged about his daughter’s encounter.

“I read that you or whoever that was related to you wrote that satan’s daughter, hillary clinton, stated that America has to lead in stopping people like me,” the letter attributed to Onuoha read. “With all your super-intelligence, diviners and babblers, stargazers and astronauts, how did your government fail to detect me? How did satan’s government fail to tell his son in that Whitehouse that that day is here?”

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Frauenfelder could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

The letter later addresses Satan, world leaders, Al Qaeda -- “Your god is satan” -- and Syrian president Bashar Assad, who was urged to “immediately end the bloodshed” and “avoid the wrath you have heaped on your head.” It also includes a list of “Songs of the Night,” 31 songs with Christian titles.

It also addressed LAX passengers, as the author referenced the terminal evacuations that occurred at the airport Tuesday. Officials said a man believed to be Onuoha called the TSA twice, instructing employees to evacuate certain terminals at the airport. The caller told the employee he would be watching to make sure his instructions were carried out, Eimiller said.

Police cleared the terminals but there appeared to be no threat to the airport, Eimiller said.

The letter said the evacuations were “the only way for me to get the attention of the whole world.”

“You missing your flights should be the last thing on your minds at this time,” it read.

Security was increased Wednesday at LAX, Ontario and Van Nuys airports in light of the events and 9/11 anniversary, LAX Police Chief Patrick M. Gannon said.

Also Wednesday, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force was searching the Harvest Christian Fellowship Church in Riverside and a van in its parking lot as part of its investigation. Onuoaha was arrested in the van, and the search was out of an “abundance of caution,” Eimiller said.

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“Based on the nature of the investigation, they’re ruling out any threat associated with the suspect and his activity in Riverside,” Eimiller said.

While searching Onuoha’s apartment in Inglewood, members of the terrorist task force discovered a note taped inside a closet, Eimiller said. The note, she said, contained “an unspecified threat citing the 9/11/13 anniversary.”

It appeared Onuoha had “cleared out” of the apartment before his arrest, Eimiller said.

Authorities took Onuoha’s threats seriously enough Tuesday that they launched a multi-agency manhunt and considered releasing Onuoha’s name to the public before he was apprehended, sources told The Times.

However, as of early Wednesday morning, authorities said they had not yet found any weapons or bomb-making materials.

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