Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents reportedly questioned an Oklahoma woman outside her home last Wednesday over social media posts she shared on Facebook.
Fox News reported that Rolla Abdeljawad, a resident of Stillwater, Oklahoma, claimed that FBI agents arrived at her house Wednesday and informed her that Facebook had provided them with screenshots of her social media posts. A video posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Hassan Shibly, Abdeljawad’s lawyer, shows the Oklahoma woman asking the FBI agents to confirm their identity; however, the FBI agents repeatedly refused to show their badges on camera.
In the video, Abdeljawad can be heard asking the FBI agents, “So we no longer live in a free country, and we can’t say what we want?” In response to the woman’s question, one of the FBI agents said, “No, we totally do.”
When the woman explained that she could not be arrested for using her First Amendment right of freedom of speech, the agent added, “We do this every day, all day long…It’s just an effort to keep everybody safe and make sure nobody has any ill will or bad intent or anything like that.”
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Throughout the conversation, Abdeljawad insisted that the only thing she did was exercise her “right as an American citizen on a public social media platform” by sharing her “personal opinions” on Facebook.
Later in the video, the woman can be heard asking the agents, “Are you questioning all the citizens in America?” In response, one of the agents admitted, “We certainly would if we had any sort of concerns.”
Alongside the video of Abdeljawad, the Oklahoma woman’s lawyer gave Americans advice on what to do and what not to do when confronted by the FBI in a similar situation.
“What she did right: 1. Refuse to speak to them without a lawyer. 2. Refuse to let them in her house. 3. Record the interaction,” Shibly wrote. “What she did wrong: 1. Exit her house. Do not let them in your house if they do not have a warrant but do not exit your house either.”
Fox News reported that while the specific posts that led to the FBI’s investigation of Abdeljawad’s social media account have not been disclosed, Abdeljawad’s Facebook account features multiple posts supporting Palestinians and criticizing Israel for the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
The FBI told Fox News that the agency “can never open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity.”
“The FBI is committed to ensuring our activities are conducted with a valid law enforcement or national security purpose, and uphold the constitutional rights of all Americans,” the statement added.
