Deconstructing social media posts that tipped FBI to Hester Jr.

We’re taking a closer look at Robert Hester Jr.’s social media postings that tipped the FBI off to go undercover.

The Columbia man is accused of trying to aid ISIS in a terror attack.

Experts say in most cases of domestic terrorism, threats can be traced through social media. In this particular case what Robert Hester Jr. was posting on social media led the FBI to question his intentions. The “see something, say something” saying is something law enforcement across the state continue to emphasize.

While close friend and neighbor Robert Shatlain said Hester was a patriot and good father, court documents show a different side.

These are some of the social media posts under Hester’s alias names:

In July of 2016, in a special report ,ABC 17 News spoke with Dr. Tahir Rahman, a forensic psychiatrist at the University of Missouri who has studied the motivations of mass shooters for the past five years.

“These extreme, overvalued beliefs slowly are refined through time,” Rahman said. “They grow more dominant and they fulminate in the mind of the individual.”