The Wire - March 13, 2024

//The Wire//2300Z March 13, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: PUTIN AGREES TO IDEA OF CEASEFIRE IN UKRAINE, BUT STRESSES DESIRE FOR A PERMANENT PEACE AGREEMENT. MALIGN ACTORS REMAIN DEDICATED TO TARGETING POLITICAL ENEMIES IN THE UNITED STATES.//

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-International Events-

Europe: This morning President Putin stated that he is supportive of a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine. In a televised media session, Putin also emphasized that a longer term peace agreement is really the end goal, not just a temporary ceasefire.

AC: Of note, many media outlets (including lots of independent journalists) ran stories last night "confirming" that Putin rejected this ceasefire proposal. Normally, there is some fluidity with developing news stories, however there's usually not that much discrepancy. As a result, it would probably be wise to wait and see for a few days, and let things develop, before conducting a hard-and-fast assessment on what's going on with regards to a peace agreement. Things happen fast in the world of international relations; what starts off as a good deal can sour in an instant, and what seems impossible can in reality be quite an easy point of commonality to agree on. The common factor of all of this is that diplomacy is often a winding road, and takes time to come to a point of stability.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - Politics continues as before, with several appointment picks being withdrawn due to controversy. Trump's pick for CDC Director (Dr. Dave Weldon) was withdrawn due to Dr. Weldon previously being critical of vaccine safety standards, and for his research to determine if there is a link between vaccines and childhood developmental disorders such as autism. Similarly, Trump's initial pick for the Deputy Director of National Intelligence (Daniel Davis) was withdrawn after the ADL deliberately lobbied against him for his views allegedly critical of the Israeli government.

Texas: Multiple developments have taken place with regards to politically conservative journalists being targeted. InfoWars writer Jaime White was murdered at his home in Austin on Sunday night, after returning home from work. No indication of motive has been released by authorities indicating whether or not this was a targeted attack, or a crime of opportunity. However, following this attack, an on-air InfoWars journalist was swatted multiple times over the past few days.
Separately from InfoWars, a separate politically-conservative independent journalist was swatted last night as well, along with multiple family members being swatted at their homes.

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Analyst Comments: As has been a well-known tactic among malign actors, calling in a fake horrific crime with the intent of goading police into shooting and killing a target has become an increasingly common threat vector over the past few years. Malign actors know and understand that law enforcement interacting with a civilian population in our current times is risky, and if a police officer is told that they are going into a violent crime situation to begin with, malign actors can take advantage of this heightened state of tension to increase the likelihood that a police officer will shoot someone. Thankfully, in many cases, officers don't take the bait after realizing they were used as pawns during a swatting incident. But recent American history is filled with situations where a swatting victim is not so lucky. At minimum, an innocent person being dragged from their bed in the night, to be slammed on the ground and handcuffed in front of their own home is a humiliating experience from which there is no recompense. The police, after figuring out it was a fake call, drive away like nothing happened...only for the next shift to be subject to the same fake 911 call over and over again. The result is the taxpayer spending much time handcuffed in front of their own home, again and again, with no real way to stop it from happening. It's an unfortunate and non-preventable situation to be in, as if there were to be a real crime, one would hope that a rapid response would take place. However, since there has been nearly zero focus on investigating swatting incidents, and almost zero focus on prosecuting those who engaging in swatting behavior, these types of tactics will continue for the foreseeable future, and highlight the importance of privacy for anyone who might potentially say anything offensive on the internet.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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