Special Forces soldier and UFC fighter Tim Kennedy is working with the FBI in the face of some "recent credible threats" against him by followers of the Islamic State group.
"Just spoke to the FBI regarding some recent credible threats towards me by #ISIS," Kennedy wrote Wednesday evening on his official Facebook page. "They were not overly thrilled with my response … 'Let those cowards come.'"
Kennedy, who served in 7th Special Forces Group and is now a sergeant first class with the Texas National Guard, said he typically gets five to 10 threats a day via his social media accounts.
Most of those threats are from what he calls "military trolls" who target high-profile military figures.
"Apparently a couple of them were legitimate in trying to, from what the FBI said, plan stuff," Kennedy told Army Times.
The FBI reached out to Kennedy Wednesday.
"They said, 'Are you aware of this stuff?' I said, 'Yes.' They said, 'We think this is somewhat credible,'" Kennedy said. "Then I said, 'I'm kind of desensitized to this stuff, so maybe you should tell me what my level of alarm should be.'"
Kennedy, who recently started Sheepdog Response, a group focused on teaching others to protect themselves in areas such as grappling, weapons and situational awareness, said he is undeterred by the threats.
"What's the definition of terrorism?" Kennedy said. "It's to achieve an objective through the use of force and fear. These are just nasty, evil, disgusting human beings who disrespect human life. I teach people how to live with threats like this. Who would I be to be cowering to a bunch of gutless cowards acting like a bunch of tough guys online?"
Michelle Tan is the editor of Army Times and Air Force Times. She has covered the military for Military Times since 2005, and has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Haiti, Gabon and the Horn of Africa.
