FBI: No evidence Fort Hood shooter was part of larger terror plot

In the first significant comment, the FBI has thrown cold water on media speculators who suggested he was part of a larger terror plot. The FBI said "there is no information to indicate that Hasan was part of a terror plot against the U.S.."

WASHINGTON – Mass murder suspect Maj. Malik Nidal Hasan came to the attention of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, JTTF, in December 2008 because of his communications with a subject under investigation but the JTTF concluded there was nothing nefarious about that contact. The FBI also said that it has found no evidence that Hasan was acting in concert with others or was part of a larger terrorist operation against U.S. forces when he killed 13 and wounded around 42 at Fort Hood. Media suggestions that Hasan was part of a terror plot against the U.S. were dismissed in a press release issued late Monday. “At this point, there is no information to indicate Major Malik Nidal Hasan had any co-conspirators or was part of a broader terrorist plot,” said the release which appears to challenge runaway speculation in U.S. media. “ The investigation to date has not identified a motive, and a number of possibilities remain under consideration. We are working with the military to obtain, review, and analyze all information relating to Major Hasan in order to allow for a better understanding of the facts and circumstances that led to the Fort Hood shooting,” said the FBI statement. “ Understandably, there is a large volume of information in various forms and it will take us some time to complete this work,” said the federal agency. “There has been and continues to be a great deal of reported information about what was or might have been known to the government about Major Hasan prior to the shooting,” it added. “Major Hasan came to the attention of the FBI in December 2008 as part of an unrelated investigation being conducted by one of our Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs). JTTFs are FBI-led, multi-agency teams made up of FBI agents, other federal investigators—including those from the Department of Defense—and state and local law enforcement officers,” said the FBI. “Investigators on the JTTF reviewed certain communications between Major Hasan and the subject of that investigation and assessed that the content of those communications was consistent with research being conducted by Major Hasan in his position as a psychiatrist at the Walter Reed Medical Center,” the FBI said. “ Because the content of the communications was explainable by his research and nothing else derogatory was found, the JTTF concluded that Major Hasan was not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist planning. Other communications of which the FBI was aware were similar to the ones reviewed by the JTTF,” said the federal law enforcement agency. “ The ongoing investigation includes forensic examinations of Major Hasan’s computers and any Internet activity in hopes of gaining insight into his motivation. But the investigation to date indicates that the alleged gunman acted alone and was not part of a broader terrorist plot,” said the statement. The Army Criminal Investigative Division is leading a coordinated criminal investigation with the support of the FBI and other components of the Department of Justice and the Texas Rangers. “With respect to what the FBI is doing—personnel from the Counter-terrorism Division, Laboratory Division, and the Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) are on site in support of the tragedy,” said the FBI. After meeting with the president, FBI Director Robert Mueller ordered a review of this matter to determine all of the facts and circumstances related to this tragedy and whether, with the benefit of hindsight, any policies or practices should change based on what we learn, it said.