- "It's an unconfirmed story about an intelligence operative that got caught leaking covert information. Calls himself Micro."
"Micro? You got a name?"
"David Lieberman. And here's the kicker. Officially, Lieberman was shot and killed trying to escape arrest by Homeland Security." - ―Karen Page and Frank Castle[src]
The Attack on David Lieberman was an attempt by Carson Wolf to assassinate David Lieberman and prevent any more leaks regarding the execution of Ahmad Zubair.
Background[]
- "I was working on Afghanistan intelligence, which... Maybe you know it's just an oxymoron because our basic tactic is to pay anyone we can to tell tales. You know? 'Hey, kid. Tell me a story, I'll give you some money.' So they did, you know? And my job was to assess this shit pile for actionable intelligence. It was a monumental waste of my time. 'Till one day, they sent me something interesting."
- ―Micro to Frank Castle[src]
William Rawlins and Ray Schoonover started a Operation Cerberus, aimed at elimating terrorist cells in Afghanistan and recruited soldiers into the Cerberus Squad to carry out the missions. The operation was not authorized by the United States Congress, so Rawlins and Schoonover sought funding in heroin trafficking, smuggling drugs from to the United States in the bodies of dead soldiers. Working for the Afghan National Police, Ahmad Zubair found out about the illegal trafficking and a link with the U.S. soldiers and shared the information with Dinah Madani who was in Afghanistan on a Homeland Security mission.
Ahmad Zubair being interrogated by William Rawlins
Rawlins ordered the squad to abduct Zubair and bring him in for an interrogation, claiming that he was connected to the terrorists. With Zubair in captivity, Rawlins tortured and interrogated him for hours before giving Frank Castle an order to finish him off, despite Zubair repeatedly pleading for mercy and claiming that he was no terrorist. Castle executed Zubair with a headshot, before Rawlins tasked him and Gunner Henderson with disposing of the body and removing the bullet from his skull, so nothing could be linked to them. Following an unsuccessful mission in Kandahar, the operation was aborted and the Ceberus Squad was disbanded.[1]
David Lieberman sends the footage to Dinah Madani
However, Henderson found out about the heroin trafficking and secretly recorded the interrogation and execution, anonymously sending the footage to David Lieberman.[2] Lieberman was concerned that the NSA would rather bury the incriminating footage and sent it over directly to Dinah Madani, hoping that she would know what to do with it. Receiving the footage, Madani started an investigation to uncover the truth behind Zubair's death, however, Rawlins found out about the leak and had the footage getting stolen from Madani, ordering Carson Wolf to handle the situation. Wolf found out that Lieberman was the source of the leak and approached Mitchell Ellison personally, coercing him into not letting New York Bulletin publish a story on Lieberman.[3]
Attack[]
Carson Wolf shoots David Lieberman
- "Lieberman, get on the ground! Now!"
"Look, this is a mistake, all right? Whatever your orders, I'm not a criminal. I'm an NSA analyst." - ―Carson Wolf and David Lieberman[src]
While David Lieberman was going on a trip with his family, the Homeland Security agents led by Carson Wolf started searching through the cars in the traffic to find him. Lieberman saw the agents and told his family to stay in the car, before getting out on the streets in an attempt to shake them off. He tried to hide in the crowd, but got spotted by Wolf who proceed to pursue Lieberman before cornering him. Lieberman tried to reason with him, saying that he is an NSA analyst, but Wolf held him at gunpoint and ordered him to get on the ground.
Sarah Lieberman saw the scene unfold, before getting blocked by a Homeland Security agent, and Lieberman repeatedly told her to leave before things get worse. The situation continued to escalate, as Wolf claimed that Lieberman had a weapon and ordered him to drop it, despite the fact that Lieberman was completely unarmed. Eventually, Wolf shot Lieberman in the chest right in front of his wife, causing him to fall over into the river. Lieberman survived as the cellphone in his pocket stopped the bullet, however, he was considered legally dead regardless.[1]
Aftermath[]
With David Lieberman officially dead, Carson Wolf and the Homeland Security rewrote the narraive of the situation, claiming that he was a traitor involved in domestic terrorism, who died while resisting arrest. Lieberman was forced to lay low and stay in hiding to escape from the people who wanted him dead, while his family believed that he was gone.[1] William Rawlins and Ray Schoonover then continued to work on concealing any evidence regarding the Operation Cerberus and looked into the one who filed Ahmad Zubair's execution, assuming that it was Frank Castle. Rawlins and Schoonover then orchestrated a mass shooting at Central Park where Castle was spending time with his family, disguised as a drug deal gone wrong, in an attempt to silence Castle without raising suspicions.[3]
Frank Castle finds Micro's CD
Castle managed to survive the attack, while his wife, daughter, and son were killed, but Castle did not know about the connection between their deaths and the Operation Cerberus. He targeted the gangs involved in a shootout, until he finally discovered Schoonover's involvement and killed him.[4] Lieberman continued to monitor Castle's movements and left a CD with Zubair footage in his old house, intending to get in touch with him.[5] While the public believed that Castle died during an attack on Schoonover's drug shipment, Lieberman found out that he survived when he massacred the Gnucci Crime Family.[6]
Frank Castle confronts Micro
Using his Micro moniker, Lieberman got in touch with Castle informing him that he knows about his survival, which forced him to act. Castle got a lead on Wolf and forced him to give out information on Lieberman before killing him off, and then tracked down Lieberman with Curtis Hoyle's help.[3] Castle confronted Lieberman at his hideout and after interrogation, Lieberman told Castle that the deaths of his family and an attack on him were all connected to the Operation Cerberus, offering his help with finding and bringing down the people in charge. Castle reluctantly agreed to work with Lieberman but only on the condition that he gets to kill each and every one of them for what they did to his loved ones.[1]