Joshua Ryne Goldberg (born May 14, 1995) is an American internet troll, convicted of attempting a bombing on the 14th anniversary of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

while posing as an Islamic terrorist affiliated with

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

. Goldberg first received law-enforcement and media attention under his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

handle "Australi Witness" following the

Curtis Culwell Center attack The Curtis Culwell Center attack was a failed terrorist attack on an exhibit featuring cartoon images of Muhammad at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas on May 3, 2015, which ended in a shootout with police guarding the event, and the ...

, a terrorist attack on a

Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is located within Dallas County except for small portions located in Collin and Rockwall Counties. At the ...

exhibit featuring images of Muhammad in May 2015, in which two assailants died in a shootout with police. The "Australi Witness" persona, had, posing as a

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

jihadist, called for an attack on, and posted maps of, the center where the exhibit was taking place, praised the jihadist attackers in its aftermath, and was

retweet Reblogging (or, in Twitter parlance, retweeting) is the mechanism in blogging which allows users to repost the content of another user's post with an indication that the source of the post is another user. It was first developed by Jonah Peretti ...

ed by one of the assailants before the attack. He claimed credit for the attack. Goldberg also planned

terrorist attacks The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people. Definitions of terrori ...

in Australia. Goldberg had many online identities and spent virtually all of his time on the internet. In addition to promoting terrorism, he made thousands of troll posts advocating for liberal feminism, neo-nazism, and other ideologies. Initially charged with distributing information about bomb-making techniques in connection with a planned attack on a 2015 Kansas City 9/11 memorial event, Goldberg's trial was suspended pending efforts by doctors to return him to competence after it emerged that he had a history of mental illness. Goldberg was returned to competency and on December 20, 2017 pleaded guilty to federal charges of attempted malicious damage and destruction by an explosive of a building. On June 25, 2018, Goldberg was sentenced to ten years in federal prison and lifetime supervision.

Early life and education

Goldberg is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He lived with his parents in Orange Park, Florida, a suburb of

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

Online activities

Goldberg made online posts under many pseudonyms and spent 14 to 20 hours on the internet per day. After learning of his internet activities, the FBI attempted to place him under physical surveillance, but this was generally ineffective because for several weeks he did not leave his parents' house or open the front door.

Islamist-related personas

Australi Witness

Australi Witness was an online persona, claiming to be an ISIS-affiliated jihadist from Australia, who was described by

Rita Katz Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...

, executive director of

SITE Intelligence Group SITE Intelligence Group is an American non-governmental organization that tracks online activity of white supremacist and jihadist organizations. It is based in Bethesda, Maryland. From 2002 to 2008, SITE Intelligence Group was known as the Se ...

, as holding a "prestigious position" in online jihadi circles. Australi Witness urged an attack on the Draw Muhammad Contest being held at the

Curtis Culwell Center The Curtis Culwell Center (formerly the Garland Special Events Center) is a 6,860-fixed seat arena (8,500 full capacity) and conference center in Garland, Texas. It opened in 2005 and was designed by HKS, Inc. and constructed at a cost of $31.5 ...

, on May 3, 2015, suggesting that "brothers in Texas" to go there "with your weapons, bombs or with knifes " to "defend your Prophet". The persona also posted maps to the event. Subsequently, two men, identified as

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

, residents Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, were shot dead by police as they attempted to attack the contest. The FBI found that Simpson retweeted a message from the Australi Witness Twitter handle on the morning of the attack. Australi Witness claimed credit for having inspired the attack to multiple media outlets, praised Simpson and Soofi as

martyrs A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

, and expressed support for the attack in an interview with

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...

. Australi Witness posted a 50-page guide online on how to join the terror group ISIS, and later posted a list of synagogues in Australia, ostensibly to encourage his supporters to attack them. He communicated that he was planning an attack in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to an FBI informant, who posed as a jihadist, and a 17-year-old who pleaded guilty to planning a Mother's Day 2015 bombing in Melbourne using pressure cooker and pipe bombs, which was never carried out, was found to have been in contact with Goldberg. According to the FBI, Australi Witness posted to an ISIS-related website that he had recruited two people, one in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, the other in Melbourne, to "using guns, shoot up local synagogues when the maximum amount of Jews are praying", stating that "the entire thing was my idea, and I helped them every step of the way". Australi Witness also claimed to have worked for Amnesty International, asked followers to target Australian cartoonist Larry Pickering, and repeatedly attempted to associate himself with anti-

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

campaigner

Mariam Veiszadeh Mariam Veiszadeh is an Afghan-born Australian lawyer and writer known for her anti-racism campaigns. Early life and education Veiszadeh was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1984. In 1988, when Veiszadeh was four years old, her family fled Afghanis ...

Junaid Thorne and fake jihadist personas

Goldberg reportedly set up a fake account in the name of Australian Muslim preacher

Junaid Thorne Mohammed Junaid Thorne is an Australian Islamic preacher of Aboriginal heritage from Perth, Western Australia. Thorne is noted for his controversial views on Islamic militant groups including Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Thorne is a membe ...

. Goldberg also created multiple fake jihadist accounts, which interacted with the fake Thorne account, and he then sent screengrabs of the fabricated interactions to journalists, at least one of whom published the fake interaction in an article of ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

'' in April 2015. The fake jihadist personas were also used to besmirch Amnesty International and the Human Rights Law Centre by claiming that the fake jihadists had employment ties, or donated money to, these organizations. This persona was linked to Goldberg on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

Feminism-related personas

Caitlin Roper

Goldberg reportedly set up a fake Twitter account in the name of anti-

sexual exploitation Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a s ...

campaigner Caitlin Roper, who allegedly earned his ire because of her efforts to get the video game '' Grand Theft Auto V'' banned in Australia. The fake account sent Promoted Tweets that targeted the

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

community.

Tanya Cohen

Under this persona, Goldberg posed as a female

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

Australian activist opposed to

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

. Goldberg's work under the persona was published in many places, including Thought Catalog, a

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site includes glossaries and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of " netroots" activism. Daily Kos was ...

diary; and Feministing, a feminist blog. ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' columnist

James Taranto James Taranto (born January 6, 1966) is an American journalist. He is editorial features editor for ''The Wall Street Journal'', in charge of the newspaper's op-ed pages, both print and digital. ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...

''s Charles Cooke described the article that Taranto responded to as "exquisite satire", while Mike Masnick of

Techdirt Techdirt is an American Internet blog that reports on technology's legal challenges and related business and economic policy issues, in context of the digital revolution. It focuses on intellectual property, patent, information privacy and c ...

called it "damn good satire, because it's just stupid enough at the beginning to drag you in and make you believe it, and then, slowly but surely, over the course of a very long writeup, it starts tossing out ever more ridiculous ideas -- drip... drip... drip -- that just, gently, turn up the outrage-o-meter, such that many people don't even realize that it's satire." This persona was linked to Goldberg on

White supremacist personas

European88 and Reddit

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...

, Goldberg made thousands of racist posts under the neo-Nazi persona "European 88." Under this persona, Goldberg created and moderated many

controversial Reddit communities Controversial Reddit communities are communities on the social news site Reddit (known as "subreddits"), often devoted to explicit, violent, or hateful material, that have been the topic of controversy. Controversial Reddit communities sometim ...

that were racist in nature, including being a moderator for the " r/CoonTown" subreddit. Many subreddits he created or moderated, including "r/CoonTown", were banned during a period when Reddit's content policy was revised in August 2015.

"Michael Slay"

Goldberg posted on the neo-Nazi website ''

The Daily Stormer ''The Daily Stormer'' is an American far-right, neo-Nazi, white supremacist, misogynist, Islamophobic, antisemitic, and Holocaust denial commentary and message board website that advocates for a second genocide of Jews. It is part of the al ...

'' as "Michael Slay". Upon his arrest and unveiling, the administrator of the site removed his posts.

Other personas

''Times of Israel'' blog hoax

In April 2015, Goldberg covertly wrote and posted a hoax article on a ''

Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.

'' blog calling for the

extermination Extermination or exterminate may refer to: * Pest control, elimination of insects or vermin * Genocide, extermination—in whole or in part—of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group * Homicide or murder in general * "Exterminate!", t ...

of the

Palestinian people Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

. The article was ostensibly written by

Josh Bornstein Josh Bornstein is an Australian lawyer specialising in employment and labour relations law who has acted in several high profile legal matters. He is a member of the Board of economic think tank, Per Capita and the Advisory Board of the Centre f ...

, a Jewish Australian lawyer, and triggered widespread condemnation. Bornstein immediately disavowed responsibility for the post, which was deleted by ''The Times of Israel''. It has since been shown and accepted that Bornstein was the victim of the malicious hoax by Goldberg. Initially, it was believed that the hoax was perpetrated by

white supremacists White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

. In May 2015, Bornstein faced online threats from Goldberg's Australi Witness Twitter account, and it was only later learned that Goldberg was responsible for the hoaxing.

Philosophy of Rape

Goldberg has been identified as the person behind "Philosophy of Rape", a

subreddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

that advocated

corrective rape Corrective rape, also called curative rape, as well as homophobic rape, is a hate crime in which one or more people are raped because of their perceived sexual orientation such as homosexuality or bisexuality. The common intended consequence ...

against "whores and feminazis", and offered tips on how to do so without getting caught.

MoonMetropolis

Goldberg was also active on Twitter, Reddit, Disqus and others under the username MoonMetropolis, a "free speech absolutist" who was involved with the

Gamergate controversy Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized online misogyny, misogynistic online harassment campaign and a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "# ...

. He would frequently use this persona to criticize the works of his other personas such as anti-free speech activist Tanya Cohen, arguing against points that he himself had made. Goldberg also posted strong opinions on the subject of free speech absolutism to the website Thought Catalog, using both the MoonMetropolis name and his own name.

Unmasking and criminal proceedings

News reports about the Australi Witness online persona calling for the Garland attack first brought the account to the attention of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI). The Australian Federal Police (AFP) alerted the FBI about the real identity of Australi Witness, with the AFP, in turn, being handed the information by two Australian journalists, Elise Potaka and Luke McMahon. However, according to the FBI affidavit filed in court, by the time they received this information from the AFP, their investigation into Goldberg was already well underway. Potaka and McMahon independently tracked and identified the person behind the Australi Witness account after he impersonated Potaka on Facebook, leading to a chain of events which connected Australi Witness to Goldberg. The FBI also directly linked Australi Witness to Goldberg via his

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...

. Australi Witness passed specific information on the manufacture of a bomb targeting a September 11 memorial event in Kansas City, Missouri to an FBI informant, who was posing as a Muslim extremist. According to the FBI, Australi Witness suggested that the informant bomb the memorial in Kansas City after the latter claimed to live near that city, and also encouraged the informant to make the bomb more deadly by adding

rat poison Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, squirrels, groundhog, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles ...

to the

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

. Australi Witness posted pictures online of what he claimed to be a bomb he was building and emailed

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

journalist Mike Wendling claiming credit for the Curtis Culwell Center attack, and warning that a pressure cooker bomb would be detonated in a "large Midwestern US city" on September 11, 2015. Goldberg was arrested by the FBI after being identified as Australi Witness on September 9, 2015. After a raid on his home by the FBI, Goldberg allegedly admitted to agents that he had distributed the information about making the bomb in Kansas City. Goldberg appeared in court on September 15, where he was ordered to undergo a 30-day mental health evaluation to determine his fitness to stand trial. After his arrest, it emerged that Goldberg had previously been diagnosed with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...

and anxiety disorder. On December 14, 2015, after an examination by prison psychologist Lisa Feldman at

Federal Detention Center, Miami The Federal Detention Center, Miami (FDC Miami) is a prison operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It is located in downtown Miami, at the corner of Northeast Fourth Street and North Miami Avenue. The administrative facility employed 311 staff ...

, US Magistrate Judge James Klindt ruled Goldberg mentally incompetent to stand trial and Goldberg was ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment for four months at the

Federal Medical Center, Butner The Federal Medical Center, Butner (FMC Butner) is a United States federal prison in North Carolina for male inmates of all security levels who have special health needs. It is part of the Butner Federal Correctional Complex and is operated by the ...

. Goldberg again appeared before Klindt on June 15, 2016, and was described by prison psychiatrists as "improving", and that there was a "good chance" of him being returned to competency to stand trial. Another status update was scheduled by Klindt for October 15, 2016. Goldberg's lawyer, Paul Shorstein, later said that Goldberg had

Asperger's Syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavio ...

and had been diagnosed with

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...

. Goldberg's defense subsequently claimed that Goldberg had autism, wanted to be a journalist, and had made "impressive" journalistic progress in his trolling activities. On December 20, 2017, Goldberg pleaded guilty to attempted malicious damage and destruction by an explosive of a building, in the

United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (in case citations, M.D. Fla.) is a federal court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are app ...

. According to the plea agreement, Goldberg also claimed to have been planning a terrorist attack in Melbourne, Australia. On June 25, 2018, Goldberg was sentenced to ten years at the

Federal Correctional Complex, Butner The Federal Correctional Complex, Butner (FCC Butner) is a United States federal prison complex for men near Butner, North Carolina. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. FCC Butner ...

Butner, North Carolina Butner is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,397 as of the 2020 census. Butner was managed by the state of North Carolina from 1947 through 2007. History A bill passed by the North Carolina General ...

, followed by lifetime supervised release.''US terror troll who targeted Melbourne jailed for a decade''

The Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald Sun ...

, 25 June 2019

References

External links

United States v Joshua Ryne Goldberg Criminal ComplaintMental Competency Report, November 2015, Lisa Feldman Psy.D.United States of America v. Joshua Ryne Goldberg Plea Agreement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldberg, Joshua Ryne 1995 births American critics of Islam 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American criminals American people imprisoned on charges of terrorism American neo-Nazis convicted of crimes American people of Jewish descent Anonymity pseudonyms Anti-Islamic forgeries Bombers (people) Collaboration with ISIL Criminals from Florida Failed terrorist attempts in the United States Internet trolls Living people Male critics of feminism People convicted on terrorism charges People from Orange Park, Florida People with Asperger syndrome Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government American conspiracy theorists