The Unexpected Patriot: How an Ordinary American Mother Is Bringing Terrorists to Justice

by Shannen Rossmiller, Sue Carswell

Overview

After 9/11, when the nation was still in shock, a mother of three in rural Montana was devouring literature on Islamic culture, teaching herself Arabic, and preparing to infiltrate the central nervous system of global terror: online networks. Shannen Rossmiller's efforts succeeded beyond imagination. Posing as an Islamic militant under dozens of screen aliases, she joined forces with the FBI and started trolling jihadist chat rooms, striking up conversations at 3am with men as far away as Pakistan, and amassing evidence against an array of suspected terrorists both at home and abroad.In 2002, Shannen's family uncovered her double life after a chat room terrorist wiped out their computer, and reports rolled in that the Rossmillers were being targeted for reprisal. Undeterred, Shannen pressed on, bringing many would-be jihadists to justice, testifying in nationally publicized trials, and pioneering the digital entrapment tactics that are at the forefront of today's war on terror. This is the story of one woman's unexpected courage and how it changed the face of this global struggle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780230341647
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/13/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Shannen Rossmiller was a mother of three and a Montana municipal court judge when she assumed the role of online terrorist-hunter after 9/11. Her work led to the founding of a new field of espionage known as cyber-counterintelligence, and today she works closely with the FBI to find and prosecute terrorists. She lives in Conrad, MT.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 When First We Met 3

2 Hour by Hour 17

3 Cyber Spy 31

4 A Call to Jihad 43

5 Finding a Traitor 55

6 Operation Whirlpool 85

7 Article 32 97

8 Under Protection 121

9 A Black Flag 155

10 The 9/11 of Energy 167

11 My Last Testimony 189

12 Al-Qaeda Comes to Montana 207

13 What Is a Hero? 213

Conclusion A Call to Patriotism 221

Epilogue 239

Index 241

Editorial Reviews

A thrilling account of how one woman's determination to take action after 9/11 led to new investigative tactics.” —Booklist

“Rossmiller's patriotic, risky involvement in righting the wrongs of 9/11 resonates on every page.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Judge Shannen Rossmiller is a true American patriot who out of the unsuspecting suburbs in isolated Montana was motivated by the tragedy of 9/11 to embark upon her own global war against terrorism. Having taught herself Arabic and with her natural stealth-like ability to convincingly masquerade online as various radical Muslim men she single-handedly risked her life to successfully thwart terrorist attacks against our country and Americans abroad. This story is as compelling as it can get.” —Mark Zaid

“Shannen Rossmiller is as brave, resourceful, patriotic, disarming, smart, and crafty as the pioneer women who first settled her Big Sky Country nearly two centuries ago.” —R. James Woolsey, former director of Central Intelligence

“Shannen Rossmiller's work in exposing Islamic terrorists has genuinely made our country safer. She has dedicated her life to combating the terrorist threat against the United States and has amazingly been able to infiltrate and actually stop terrorist operations. Our entire country owes her an immeasurable debt of gratitude.” —Steven Emerson, author of American Jihad

“A true American hero.” —Dr. Daniel Pipes, The Middle East Forum

“Shannen Rossmiller is in a league of her own.” —NBC News

From the Publisher

A crusading, modern-day vigilante goes online to flesh out unsuspecting terrorists.

Born on a ranch in bucolic Conrad, Mont., to a wheat farmer and a schoolteacher, Rossmiller blossomed from a plucky, determined "Little Scrapper" to a young woman fascinated with current events, news and history, relating more to her father's brooding interest in the psychology of serial killers rather than her mother's feminine pursuits. After college, she returned to Montana, married childhood friend Randy and began paralegal work, which led to her appointment, at 29, as the youngest female municipal judge in American history, trying mostly drug-offense cases. In 2002, still incensed by the atrocities of 9/11, Rossmiller became desperate for "a way to channel my outrage" and launched a personal War on Terror campaign. She learned Arabic, studied the Koran, educated herself on Middle Eastern geographies and interacted within the same Internet forums and chat rooms that had become communication portals for the stealth terrorists responsible for 9/11. From there, her story speeds off in a dizzying array of events as a result of Rossmiller's creation of 40 false Muslim-radical identities and the tracking of jihadist activity with a spreadsheet. Additionally, the author furtively became an FBI-reporting cyber-sleuth and organized the Seven Seas Global Intelligence Group. She would eventually feel the heat of retribution, betrayal and life-threatening peril alongside the satisfaction of executing successful sting operations busting traitorous National Guardsman Ryan G. Anderson and Alaska pipeline terrorist Michael Reynolds. The author's somewhat stiffly written, steely narrative darkens further once the author reconciles the toll her valiant, fearless career in cyber counterintelligence and the many media-scrutinized court testimonies had taken on her well-being and her family's safety, spurring health woes and the collapse of her marriage.

The prose is workmanlike, but Rossmiller's patriotic, risky involvement in righting the wrongs of 9/11 resonates on every page.

Kirkus Reviews