Apple helps feds track down BLM protester accused of firebombing cop cars

(Compiled from NY Post, Forbes and Business Insider) – Apple recently gave user data to the FBI that helped secure the arrest of a Black Lives Matter protester suspected of firebombing cop cars, according to a report.

The tech giant responded to a request from the feds for the iCloud information of the suspect, Kelly Jackson, by turning over his iPhone photos stored on Apple servers, Forbes reported.

Jackson, 20, was busted last week on charges for trying to set two police vehicles on fire during a May 30 protest in Seattle over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, federal prosecutors said.

The FBI had been tipped off about the identity of a protester police believed had set fire to at least two police patrol vehicles during the May 30 protest.

Investigators checked the tip against surveillance feeds, news broadcast footage and social media images, deciding that the lead was worth chasing down.

Investigators then obtained a warrant to search his cell phone location data, provided by Verizon. The Verizon data showed the general location of Jackson’s phone when he made six calls on the day of the suspected firebombing, all of which placed him near the scene of the fire. It also revealed that Jackson was using an iPhone 7.

That’s when the FBI called on Apple, asking for the suspect’s iCloud information.

Apple disclosed the name, email, phone number, and residential address associated with Jackson’s account, then subsequently granted the FBI access to the contents of Jackson’s account in response to a court-ordered search warrant.

“Suspect at protest” in Seattle image from the Justice Dept press release, which notes: “The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”

Once it had access to the iCloud account, the FBI found screenshots of an Instagram post promoting the protest, a screenshot of a recipe for a Molotov cocktail, and videos of “a green glass bottle” in an unzipped backpack, according to the criminal complaint. They also found photos in Jackson’s camera roll that appeared to show him wearing the same hoodie seen in surveillance footage.

Videos from the iCloud account showed a white male’s hands opening a black bag containing a green glass bottle with a gold cap, filled with liquid, the FBI wrote. And another showed a similar glass bottle being thrown into the open driver door of a cop car, setting it on fire. The individual who threw the bomb then celebrated his achievement in front of the camera, though the face was not visible, according to the FBI. His face was visible in an image taken later that day on the same phone and it appears he’s wearing the same sweatshirt as the person shown setting fire to the police vehicle, the agency added.

Jackson was arrested last week and charged with unlawful possession of a destructive device and arson. He hasn’t yet made a plea and his lawyer had not provided comment at the time of publication.

Apple, which also hadn’t responded to a request for comment, has handed over iCloud data on suspects in the vast majority of cases where the U.S. government has made a valid legal request. As the company’s transparency report for the second half of 2019 shows, it received 4,095 requests on Apple user accounts and returned information for 3,645 of those.

In 2019, Apple refused to help the government get into the physical iPhones of a Saudi national who shot and killed three Americans on a Pensacola, Florida, naval base in December 2019. (The FBI hacked into the terrorist’s phones anyway.)

The difference between Apple refusing to unlock the terrorist’s phones and this one is a matter of technology. While Apple has access to all users’ iCloud accounts, the company says there’s no “backdoor” that allows it to unlock a physical iPhone without knowing the password — meaning it can’t access files stored locally on the iPhone, or encrypted messages sent through iMessage. Apple has said that building a “backdoor” as requested by the FBI would compromise the security of all iPhone users.

Compiled from reports on Sept. 16 by Aaron Holmes at Business Insider, Thomas Brewster at Forbes and Jackie Salo, NY Post. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.