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FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

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Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#411
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have no evidence that Wang "was" disappeared. We know that he's nowhere to be found, that the university put him on leave weeks ago [0], and that the FBI recently searched his home. Notably, the university put him on leave weeks before the FBI searched his home. That sequence is better explained by the hypothesis that Wang vanished himself suddenly and the university called in the FBI to investigate things that th…

On the long list of problems caused by the government "disappearing" people (which they have objectively been doing lately) is that it destroys trust and therefore makes even valid legal proceedings seem more shady than they would in a world in which due process was a universal guarantee in practice. I don't fault anyone for jumping to conclusions implicating the government is in the wrong here rather than Wang.

The government isn’t “disappearing people.” It’s deporting illegal aliens. You don’t need a press release every time you do that.

Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#412
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the long list of problems caused by the government "disappearing" people (which they have objectively been doing lately) is that it destroys trust and therefore makes even valid legal proceedings seem more shady than they would in a world in which due process was a universal guarantee in practice. I don't fault anyone for jumping to conclusions implicating the government is in the wrong here rather than Wang.

> by the government "disappearing" anyone (which they have objectively been doing lately) Notably, they haven't been "disappearing" people in the manner that would have to be happening here. Even the most egregious cases, which are very bad, have left a paper trail for lawyers and journalists to follow. This case is notable because no one seems to know where this man has gone. But yes, point taken: the extrajudicial…

> the extrajudicial actions of ICE recently are absolutely not helping people stay calm in the face of something like this

To be clear, ICE does not require “judicial action” to remove aliens so using the phrase “extrajudicial action” makes no sense. See: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/expedite...

Note that even when expedited removal does not apply, deportation is handled by immigration courts which aren’t really courts at all, but instead Article I tribunals within the executive branch. And many decisions of these immigration “courts” aren’t appealable to the real judicial branch.

Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it does. It's always had Title 8 authority, and several recent executive orders have directly expressed support for such action. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dhs-authorizes-federal-law-enfo... https://www.wsbradio.com/news/local/fbi-atlanta-confirms-new... https://www.wkrg.com/baldwin-county/fbi-immigration-enforcem... https://www.nbcpalmsprings.com/2025/02/27/fbi-arrests-coache...

That's the DHS authorization. It deals with immigration issues as a part of its investigations (for all federal agencies). But immigration action is not its primary role. They won't come looking for you because you broke immigration laws. But they will enforce them if it's found that you broke immigration laws while investigating something unrelated.

That's moving the goalposts. You initially stated that they do not deal with immigration action. Now it's that immigration action is not its primary role. Those are mutually exclusive arguments.

Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> by the government "disappearing" anyone (which they have objectively been doing lately) Notably, they haven't been "disappearing" people in the manner that would have to be happening here. Even the most egregious cases, which are very bad, have left a paper trail for lawyers and journalists to follow. This case is notable because no one seems to know where this man has gone. But yes, point taken: the extrajudicial…

> the extrajudicial actions of ICE recently are absolutely not helping people stay calm in the face of something like this To be clear, ICE does not require “judicial action” to remove aliens so using the phrase “extrajudicial action” makes no sense. See: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/expedite... Note that even when expedited removal does not apply, deportation is handled by immigration courts w…

> ICE does not require “judicial action” to remove aliens

> when expedited removal does not apply, deportation is handled by immigration courts

And how many of these recent cases have gone before an immigration court?

Are immigrants entitled to any form of due process?

Should they be, based on your personal principles?

Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read the article? A bureau spokesperson issued a statement: “I can confirm we conducted court-authorized activity at the address in Carmel today.

Sounds like possible espionage. Chinese spies spook easily and flee the country long before the FBI gets its shit together.

Moreso than spying, sounds like a long time US-based researcher suddenly had a reason to commit immediate espionage.

Believe everyone can put together the type of events that cause sudden behavior changes like that. (Hint: money offers or family threats)

Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#416
post #74

This hasn't hit mainstream media yet. It should have by now. Disappearing people is not something the US government is allowed to do. Here's Xiaofeng Wang's bio on the Indiana University site.[1] Google Scholar.[2] Archived version of home page at Indiana University.[3] If anybody has a PACER account, please check there. [1] https://alliance.iu.edu/members/member/8580.html [2] https://scholar.google.com/citations?use…

What do you mean by “disappearing people?” We had a foreign spy arrested at my kid’s school (she and her husband sold Navy secrets to China). For obvious reasons, arrest warrants don’t need to be made public. Nor is the FBI required to issue a press release when it arrests someone. It’s not even clear this professor is in government custody. It sounds like he may have gotten wind of the investigation and escaped.

Is there a news article about the spy at your kid’s school?

Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Point taken. Better said: We have no evidence that they have been disappearing people in this manner. We also, clearly, have a large body of people who are on guard for any such possible evidence, so I would reasonably expect that if it were happening with any kind of regularity we would have seen it by now. There's a possibility that this is instance #1 and we see repeats. If we do see repeats, I will happily engage…

> We have no evidence that they have been disappearing people in this manner Isn't it evidence of "disappearings" that we know many people were transported to a prison in El Salvador but nobody knows who those people in fact are? As far as I've seen from the press the government hasn't released any documentation about who they flew to El Salvador. Or have they? If that is true then isn't it also true that this scient…

Given that several of the individuals were named clients of the ACLU in the lawsuit, at least some of them are known.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/1/jgg-v-trump/

Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#418
post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only urge you to provide one or more good primary sources if you are making such a claim. It should be a given...

Sure. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/rcmp-chinese-police-st...

Thank you! Reading this, it seems to be unclear/unspecified in the text exactly who or what group was involved in this or whether there was affiliation to the Chinese state. That's the part I'm really interested in though.

Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#419
post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only urge you to provide one or more good primary sources if you are making such a claim. It should be a given...

I didn't know this before searching for it, but there's a wikipedia article with a list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_police_overseas_servic...

Very interesting, thank you!

Re: FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado

#420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only urge you to provide one or more good primary sources if you are making such a claim. It should be a given...

This isn't some obscure conspiracy. This an open and known practice of the CCP.

Which should make it easier to provide a source. Other comments have already done so, I was able to read up on it.
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