Category: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Thanks, everybody. I’m honored and moved to be joined by so many close friends and colleagues today, and I’m deeply grateful for all of you.

I want to start where everything does—at home—with a thank you that will never begin to cover all it should to my supremely patient wife, Helen; our kids, Caroline and Trip; and my mom and dad, who I’m also grateful to have here this afternoon.

Being here with all of you today, at the heart of this institution that I’ve put my heart and soul into…being surrounded by the people—the patriots—who have dedicated themselves and their careers to making our world a better place…well, it’s hard to find the words to express how touched and humbled I am by all of it.

Before I go any further, I want to thank the folks joining us today as speakers: Merrick…Avril…Bill…Tim…Ken…Joe…Peter…Drew…Chuck…Paul…and Brian and Mike. I want to thank you and the scores of dedicated professionals each of you represents—our colleagues in intelligence and law enforcement, here in the U.S. and abroad; the men and women of the Department of Justice; and my FBI family, past and present. You and your organizations are indispensable to the work we do together to keep people safe—here at home and around the world. I’m grateful for the personal relationships I’ve developed with each of you and for the tremendous partnership and support you’ve provided throughout our years working together. Please know you have my sincerest gratitude.

I also want to thank our distinguished guests—DAG Monaco; many of our partners, both here and abroad, who’ve traveled many miles to be here; and particularly Judge Webster and his wife, Lynda—for joining us this afternoon. Judge, if even a fraction of what’s been said about me today is true, it’s because I’ve been able to stand on the shoulders of giants like you.

I, of course, want to thank the Deputy for serving as our emcee today. Paul, I’m grateful for your thoughtful advice, counsel, and leadership over the years. Two of the very best decisions I’ve ever made were asking you and, before you, Dave Bowdich to serve alongside me as deputy directors. Thank you both for everything you’ve done—for me, for the Bureau, and for our country.

I’d also like to thank my team and everyone who worked so hard to organize this event—and then reorganized it after the snowstorm interfered with our plans. Although I have a bit of a bone to pick with whoever it is within the U.S. government who controls the weather. Avril, is that you and Bill?

And finally, and most importantly, I want to thank my FBI Family—all of you who are here in person and all of you tuning in online from our offices across the country and around the world. Thank you for joining me today and, more importantly, every step along the way for these last seven and a half years.

What Makes the FBI Successful Today

When it comes to a role like this one, I’m pretty confident nobody takes it on thinking it’ll be easy. But President Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

Here at the FBI, we certainly work hard, and without a doubt, our work is worth doing. In fact, the importance—the criticality—of our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution is one of the biggest reasons why I’ve loved all my years with the Bureau so much. After all, who wouldn’t want to be part of the organization people turn to when it matters most? Who parents call when their kids are in danger, who communities rely on to rid their neighborhoods of violent gangs and drugs, who businesses lean on to get compromised networks and operations back online, who our government counts on to safeguard our most sensitive secrets, and who the public depends on to protect us from terrorism.

What we do here at the FBI is more than a job; it’s a calling. And our work could not be more essential. Is it challenging? Absolutely. But I’ve never once questioned the Bureau’s ability to do it because, over my seven plus years as Director, I’ve seen the FBI rely steadily on the values, the principles, and the strengths that have long sustained our organization. And they are what enable us to meet those challenges head on—to keep calm and tackle hard.

Our most important asset is our people—all of you. You are what makes the FBI the extraordinary organization it is. For more than 116 years, the American people have seen you rise to the challenge, again and again, to keep our nation safe. And day after day after day, I’m inspired by the caliber and the character of the men and women in the FBI’s ranks.

People like the Hostage Rescue Team agent who, while serving a warrant in a terrorism case, exchanged gunfire with a barricaded subject and, despite not having any cover, managed to keep himself and his teammates safe from harm until the threat was neutralized. And then, while at a training exercise just a few months later—we’re talking about the same agent, now—helped save the life of a civilian badly hurt in a skydiving accident.

People like the Jackson agent who was working a violent crime investigation when he heard gunshots and saw an SUV speeding away. While the agent was detaining a passenger who’d gotten out of the car, the driver stopped and fired dozens of rounds at them, including one that penetrated our agent’s vest. Even though he’d been shot in the back, he continued getting the passenger to safety and ultimately saved his life.

Just another day on the job, right?

And the new folks we’re bringing onboard are just as inspiring. As you heard, I’ve given the commencement address at every single one of the 39 new agent graduations we’ve had in my seven and a half years. Which means I’ve had the privilege of personally handing badges and credentials to over 5,700 new agents—more than 40 percent of those on the job today. They’re bringing new talent and resolve to a workforce already full of top-notch professionals. And together, I’m confident they’ll continue to find new ways to tackle the threats we’re up against.

But as I’ve said many times before—and as you heard from almost every one of our speakers this afternoon—no single agency can go it alone. Keeping people safe is a team sport, and none of our successes would be possible without our partners.

Every day, the Bureau’s employees are working shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement in record numbers to keep our fellow citizens safe. They’re seamlessly sharing intelligence with our partners in the Intelligence Community, across government, and around the world to stay ahead of threats. And they’re working in new ways with the private sector to protect American ideas and intellectual property from our adversaries.

Those partnerships have made a huge difference—a real, tangible difference—in people’s lives. Together, in recent years, we’ve arrested nearly 50 violent criminals per day—every day.

We’ve dismantled hundreds of gangs terrorizing neighborhoods all over the country.

In just a couple years, we’ve seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly 80 percent of all Americans.

We’ve saved victims around the world nearly 800 million dollars in ransomware payments.

We’ve stopped hostile nation-states from stealing our state secrets, kidnapping and killing dissidents here, and helping themselves to valuable U.S. technology and innovation.

And we’ve kept watch against the ever-present threat of terrorism, thwarting attacks targeting houses of worship in Las Vegas, Long Beach, and Pittsburgh; a crowded pier in San Francisco; a Fourth of July parade in Cleveland; and countless other communities across the nation.

And when tragedy does strike—as we saw in New Orleans earlier this month—we’re there, working with our partners to support the community and victims’ families and to get to the bottom of what happened.

Succeeding Against the Threats of Tomorrow

Our mission is absolutely critical. And fulfilling it—time and again—means relying on our people and our partnerships. That is how we stay ahead of the threats and pursue justice throughout the communities we serve.

But if my time as Director has taught me anything, it’s that those threats are constantly growing more complex, more dynamic, and more severe—and a whole lot of dangers that were once inconceivable are now an everyday reality.

Today, would-be terrorists using encrypted communications can plot with collaborators overseas to secretly plan violent attacks right here on our soil. Cartels can acquire chemicals from half a world away to manufacture deadly drugs with a potency we’ve never seen before. Violent gangs have evolved into what now more closely resemble sophisticated criminal organizations. And with a keystroke, foreign adversaries can shut down a 911 call center, compromise a pipeline, or—as we’ve seen most recently—breach our telecommunications systems in an unprecedented act of cyber espionage.

Across the threat landscape, we’re seeing that our enemies are more emboldened, better resourced, savvier with technology, and more relentless than ever before.

Now, I say all this not because any of you needs a threat briefing or because I think it’s time for anybody to panic, but I do think it’s important to be candid about the daunting threats that are out there.

Having said that, my time as Director has proven to me that the Bureau is at its best when it’s facing a challenge. And as the threats and obstacles have multiplied, so too have the capabilities and determination of the men and women of the FBI.

So yes, it’s a scary world out there, and we’re up against some very serious threats and some very dangerous foes. And to meet what lies over the horizon, we’ve got to keep innovating and finding new ways to impose the greatest consequences on our adversaries. We’ve got to keep leveraging intelligence to maximize impact and stay ahead of the threat. And we’ve got to double down on what we know works—our people and our partnerships.

Relying on Our Core Values

But there is one more thing that is fundamental to the FBI’s work and must never change, and that is how we go about this work.

The men and women of the FBI must maintain an unwavering commitment to our core values and to justice. To sticking together as individuals committed to doing the right thing the right way, and as an organization committed to upholding the rule of law. No matter what’s happening out there—in here, we’ve got to stay committed to doing our work the right way every time. With professionalism, with rigor, with integrity.

That means following the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it or doesn’t—because trust me, if there’s anything I’ve learned in this job, it’s that there’s always someone who doesn’t like it. It means conducting investigations without fear or favor. And it means not pursuing investigations when the predication is not there. That’s what the rule of law is all about. We’ve got to maintain our independence and objectivity, staying above partisanship and politics. Because that’s what the American people expect, and I think that’s what they deserve.

It is an enormous responsibility that the FBI bears. And it’s a burden that often comes without any recognition or appreciation for all those nights and weekends…the time away from loved ones…the blood, sweat, and tears you put into your work. And yet, every single day, I see you show up to work eager to serve and fiercely determined to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. And for that, our nation—our world—owes you a debt we can never repay.

People ask me all the time how I’ve managed to do this job day after day—to see the worst of what our world has to offer, time and time again. And it’s true—a lot more often than I’d like, I’ve seen some of the darkest that humanity is capable of. But in this job, I’ve also seen the very best side of humanity, too. Men and women who could do just about anything they wanted with their lives but who’ve chosen to put service over self every day…who are there for their colleagues and their communities when they’re needed most, both on and off the job…and who put their own lives on the back burner—and on the line—often for total strangers.

That’s what I see in you, our FBI workforce.

Conclusion

When it comes to my gratitude for all of you, I could go on and on. But at some point soon, my badge is going to stop working on the doors, so I know it’s time for me to wrap up. And I’m starting to get that telling look from my family that I’ve learned to recognize (and usually blow right past).

I hope you’ll forgive me, though, for wanting to linger here just a couple more minutes. You see, way back in 2017, I stood a few steps from here in our courtyard for my installation ceremony and the oath of office. And as I was formally welcomed into the FBI Family that day, I told you I wanted to make sure I really absorbed the significance of the moment.

It was a reminder to myself to make sure to pause and drink it all in. I know just how difficult it can be to truly appreciate the best moments of your life when you’re right smack in the middle of them. Because as I tell every graduating class of special agents and intelligence analysts, far too often, the most important moments—your wedding day, the birth of a child, that moment you get your dream job—those things can go by in kind of a blur.

So, on that day seven plus years ago, I asked you to pause with me to savor—to cherish—that moment. And I encouraged you to do the same over the course of your days and your assignments as you continued along in your Bureau careers. And I hope you’ve found time to do that. Because today, I can tell you that I’ve appreciated—I’ve savored—every one of those moments I’ve spent with all of you.

And it’s been more than the obvious victories—the lives you’ve saved, the cases you’ve solved, the criminals you’ve brought to justice. It’s been all the moments in between, too. From the hundreds of times I’ve met with case teams all over the country who’ve passionately told me about the successes of their investigations…to my calls and visits with employees in the hospital, at funerals, or experiencing unforeseen personal hardships…to the cafeteria lunches I’ve shared with trainees at the Academy…and all those mornings I’ve tagged along for a run with new agents who, as my wife likes to point out, politely refrained from leaving me in the dust…and especially in the moments we’ve made dreams come true for kids who want nothing more than to be part of Team FBI.

For the past seven and a half years, during these moments we’ve shared in your work and in your lives, I have savored every single connection I’ve had the honor of making with the extraordinary men and women of the FBI. Those are the moments that have stuck with me—and they’re the ones I’ll keep close to my heart.

So, I want to thank you, the men and women of the FBI—those who served before me and alongside me, and those who will serve long after I’m gone.

Thank you for your relentlessly hard work…for your unwavering dedication to our mission…and for your unyielding commitment to the rule of law. Thank you for affording me the privilege of serving with you as we’ve protected the American people and upheld the Constitution. And thank you for keeping up that work in all the years to come. Serving as your Director has been the honor of my lifetime.

Be safe out there and take care of each other. I will always, always, be rooting for you.

Thank you.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Jabbar then stopped at a business in Texas where he purchased one of the ice chests he would later use to hide an IED. 

Jabbar is estimated to have entered Louisiana on December 31 at approximately 2:30 p.m. 
 
His rented vehicle was seen again in Gonzales, Louisiana around 9 p.m. on the 31st.  
 
By 10:00 pm, home camera footage shows Jabbar unloading the white pickup truck in New Orleans outside of the Mandeville Street rental home. 
 
Just under three hours later, at 12:41 a.m. on New Year’s morning, Jabbar parked the truck and walked to Royal and Governor Nichols Street. 
 
Jabbar placed the first IED in the cooler at Bourbon and St. Peter Street at 1:53 a.m. Someone on Bourbon Street, who we have no reason to believe was involved, dragged it a block to Bourbon and Orleans, where our teams found it after the attack. 
 
Jabbar placed the second IED in a bucket type cooler at 2:20 a.m. on Bourbon and Toulouse Streets.  
  
In the videos, you see Jabbar wearing the long brown coat we showed you in a photo released earlier. That coat was recovered in the rented F-150. 
 
At 3:15 a.m. Jabbar used his pickup truck as a lethal weapon before crashing into the construction equipment and was stopped by NOPD.  
 
Shortly after 5 a.m. a fire was reported at the rental home on Mandeville Street and the New Orleans Fire Department found explosive devices on scene after entering the home. 
 
As we released yesterday, we strongly believe Jabbar was solely responsible for the fire on Mandeville Street. We determined that he set the fire before heading to Bourbon Street based on the ATF’s investigation. I’d like to bring up Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Field Division, Joshua Jackson, to address the details of their investigation. And to explain the origin of the IED’s and the materials Jabbar used in them. SAC Jackson? 

SAC Jackson speaks. SAC Myrthil resumes.

When incidents like this happen, obviously the criminal investigation is important, but the FBI never loses sight of the devastating impact on victims and their families. Helping them navigate the unthinkable is a task that we take on with a number of local, state, and federal partners. It’s a task that started within hours of the attack. 
 
The work done by these professionals is done behind the scenes as to not retraumatize the people who did not ask to be part of this dark day in history. 
 
Today, our Victim Services Response Team and those very important partners are opening a Family Assistance Center which is a centralized location where victims and their loved ones can receive in-person information and assistance.  
 
St. Martin de Porres (PORES) Catholic Church on Elysian Fields has graciously offered space for our professionals to provide services and also return hundreds of personal items left at the scene of the attack.  
 
We started the process of returning these items within one day of the attack – knowing it is crucial to reunite these precious items to their loved ones. 
 
The Family Assistance Center or FAC will open at one o’clock this afternoon and offer services until 7 p.m. It will then begin operating Monday through Friday from 9 am until 7 pm, until we are certain we have provided everything we can to help those who need it.  
 
I want to say thank you again to the community – and to the victims and their loved ones, we cannot change what happened, but we are working tireless to determine how and why this happened here. 
 
At this time, I would like to invite Mayor Latoya Cantrell to the podium.  
 
Thank you. 
 
We want to sincerely thank the public for all of the information we have received so far and again, encourage anyone who may have interacted with Jabbar to call us at 1-800-CALL-FBI or send digital tips to fbi.gov/bourbonstreetattack. 
 
At this time, we will take questions.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Good morning. I am FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia from the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters. I am joined by Assistant Special in Charge Alethea Duncan of our New Orleans office.

I am here to discuss not only the latest investigative information we have here in New Orleans, but also let you know about other investigative activities outside of the state.

I, first and most importantly, want to send our deepest condolences to the victims of this horrific attack and their loved ones. Fourteen innocent victims were killed in this senseless attack, and at least 35 are injured. We cannot ease the grief people in this community and across the nation are feeling at this time, but rest assured, we stand with you and in support of you. All the resources of the FBI are being focused on tracking down every piece of evidence in this case.

While we won’t be able to answer all your questions, we do have a few updates and will be as forthcoming with you as possible.

Let us be very clear—what happened here in New Orleans was an act of terrorism. It was premeditated and an evil act.

This was obviously a critical incident and, with that, lots of information and tips come pouring in from law enforcement, first responders, and the public. We have been aggressively running down these tips and information. That takes time, and we will continue to do so until every lead has been followed through on. This investigation is only a little more than 24 hours old, and we have no indication at this point that anyone else was involved in this attack other than Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar.

The FBI is surging people and assets to this area from across the region and across the nation. Special agents in field offices across the country are assisting with potential aspects of this investigation and following up on leads. Additional teams of special agents, professional staff, and victim specialists continue to arrive to provide more investigative power and assistance to the victims and their families.

We have forward deployed members of our Critical Incident Response Group, including our hostage rescue team, special agent bomb technicians, and crisis management coordinators.  Evidence Response Team members from other FBI field offices are providing additional assistance.

So far, we have received over 400 tips from the public, and that information is being followed up on both here in New Orleans and across the country. The FBI team and our law enforcement partners are also reviewing hundreds of hours of surveillance video from the French Quarter and other locations.

As for a timeline, at this point, investigators believe Jabbar picked up the rented F150 Lightning in Houston, Texas, on December 30th. As he drove from Houston to New Orleans, he posted several videos online proclaiming his support for ISIS.

There were five videos posted on Jabbar’s Facebook account, which are timestamped beginning at 1:29 a.m. CST and the last 3:02 am CST. In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and the disbelievers.” Additionally, he stated he had joined ISIS before this summer. He also provided his will and testament.

Just hours before the attack, Jabbar went to a house in New Orleans he rented through an online app. FBI and ATF agents secured the house and are searching it for potential evidence.

On New Year’s morning, Jabbar opened fire after ramming through a blocked off area of Bourbon Street and used his truck as a weapon to run over the victims. Three phones linked to Jabbar were recovered, and digital media exploitation is a priority to see what is on the devices and determine if there are any other potential leads.

Evidence Response Team members will also go over the F150 truck Jabbar was driving.  As you know, we recovered an ISIS flag from the back of the vehicle. As mentioned earlier, Jabbar declared his support for the terrorist group on social media as he made his way to New Orleans.

FBI special agent bomb technicians recovered two IEDs in coolers: one from the cross-section of Bourbon and Orleans Street and the second at the intersection of Bourbon and Toulouse Streets. Both devices were rendered safe. We did obtain surveillance footage showing Jabbar placing both devices where they were found. Two other items of interest were determined not to be IEDs.

Jabbar was born in the United States and is a U.S. military veteran. We are looking at everything in his life. While we have interviewed many people who know Jabbar, we still need to talk to others. Whether you know Jabbar personally, worked with him, served in the military with him, or saw him in New Orleans or Texas, we need to talk to you. You may not think you have relevant information, but what you know could tie in to one of our investigative leads.

We specifically want to talk to anyone who was in the French Quarter on New Year’s Eve or early on New Year’s Day. That includes people near one of two IEDs on Bourbon and Orleans Streets. The IED was inside a cooler, and many people stopped and looked at the cooler and then continued on their way. Let’s be clear. We do not believe, at this point, these people are involved in this incident in any way—we want to speak to them as witnesses and want to know what they saw and when. Anyone with information can call 1-800-CALL-FBI or send digital tips to www.fbi.gov/bourbonstreetattack.

Early this morning, Evidence Response Teams finished their work at the crime scene. Bourbon Street has been turned over to the city of New Orleans.

As you know, there is an FBI investigation in Las Vegas. We are following up on all potential leads and not ruling anything out. At this point, there is no known definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas

Again, our thoughts are with the victims of this tragedy and everyone impacted across the country. They remain at the heart of our investigation.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Some change is, of course, inevitable. But there are certain things that must never change, because they’re so fundamental to what we do and who we are—things like the importance of our mission, the quality and dedication of our people, our commitment to our core values, and the rule of law. 

But before we delve into that, I want to address a topic that’s been the subject of a lot of speculation, and that’s my future as FBI Director. Since the moment I started in this job seven-plus years ago, my focus has been on trying to do what I think is best for our institution—for the Bureau, and ultimately, for the American people we serve, and what sets us up best for success—not just today, but in the long run. So after weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down. 

My goal is to keep the focus on our mission—the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. And in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work. 

It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: This is not easy for me. I love this place. I love our mission. And I love our people. But my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what’s right for the FBI. And it was important to me that you all got to hear about my decision directly from me, before it gets announced publicly. 

Accomplishments 

I’m honored and humbled to serve alongside you. And doing it all these years has been the greatest privilege of my life. 

For me, it’s always been about the people—all of you, the partners we do the work with, and the American people, the ones we do the work for. From the beginning, when I was deciding whether it was the right choice for my family for me to take this job, it was my admiration and respect for the career professionals who make up the FBI that brought me back. And every day I’ve been in this role, my deep admiration and respect for all of you has grown more and more.  

No one gets to see the Bureau and the work you’re doing across this country and around the world like I do. And what I’ve seen is nothing short of inspiring. And I’m not the kind of guy who uses words like “inspiring” lightly. 

I’ve seen up close the sacrifices you make each and every day to fulfill our mission and keep our fellow citizens safe. I’ve seen you turn in absolutely heroic acts of bravery, over and over again, to help people you’ve never met. And I’ve seen you show up for each other with compassion and support when your FBI Family members need you most. 

You put everything you’ve got into your work, and I could not be more proud of what you’ve accomplished. 

Threats 

Over the past seven-plus years, you’ve worked alongside our partners in state and local law enforcement in record numbers to keep our communities safe, taking something like 50 violent criminals—the worst of the worst—off the street per day, every day. 

You’ve innovated and found new ways to combat the cyber threat, kicking off adversaries pre-positioned to wreak havoc on our critical infrastructure and defending against ransomware attacks on targets like 9-1-1 call centers, children’s hospitals, and water treatment plants. 
You’ve worked tirelessly to stem the flow of deadly drugs like fentanyl pouring into every corner of the country, seizing enough fentanyl in just two years to kill 270 million people—that’s more than 80 percent of all Americans. 

You’ve remained steadfast in your dedication to protecting children from harm, arresting hundreds of predators and rescuing hundreds of kids each and every year. 

And you’ve kept watch against the ever-present threat of terrorism, thwarting attacks on a busy pier in San Francisco, a crowded hospital outside Kansas City during COVID, a Fourth of July parade in downtown Cleveland—to name just a few—and, just two months ago, disrupting a mass casualty plot in Oklahoma City set for Election Day. 

As the threats have grown, you’ve grown, you’ve adapted, and you’ve evolved, because you’ve had to, because that’s what was required to keep Americans safe. And an awful lot of people are alive today because of your tireless efforts. 

All that great work shows not just how much you’ve accomplished, but how much the threats have grown. And based on what we’re seeing now, those threats are only going to continue to grow in the years ahead. 

On the terrorism front, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a deteriorating security situation in parts of Africa, the war in the Middle East, and now a collapse in power in Syria—those events oceans away will continue to have very real consequences here, on our Homeland security, well into the future. 

To coin a familiar phrase, “Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.” 

With fentanyl, every time we turn around there’s a new analogue or an even more deadly substance on the way with potentially devastating effects.  

Or crimes against children, where the dark web provides more and more places for monsters to conceal their heinous abuse.  
And with China, an adversary that’s been pretty clear about its intentions to lie, cheat, and steal its way to economic and geopolitical domination in the coming years. In fact, we’re on the cusp of what may turn out to be the PRC’s broadest, most significant cyber espionage campaign in history with the telecommunications breach known as Salt Typhoon. 

Add to all that the fact that advances in technology are expanding the attack surface and making it easier for the bad guys to cover their tracks. Think terrorists using drones, hackers moving money with cryptocurrency, and criminals of all stripes leveraging AI to up their game.  
As daunting as all that may sound, I’ve got enormous confidence in you and your ability to continue to meet the threats coming over the horizon. The most sacred responsibility of government is—and will remain—protecting its citizens. 

You all are on the front lines of that effort every day, and I know you will continue to adapt and evolve and innovate to stay ahead. 

Strength of Team  

Because when you look at where the threats are headed, it’s clear that the importance of our work—keeping Americans safe and upholding the Constitution—will not change. And what absolutely cannot—must not—change is our commitment to doing the right thing, the right way, every time. 

Our adherence to our core values, our dedication to independence and objectivity, and our defense of the rule of law—those fundamental aspects of who we are must never change. And I don’t just mean our commitment to the right thing, the right way as an organization.  

That’s essential, yes. But we also have to be committed to the right thing, the right way as individuals, too. That’s the integrity piece. Because if we all do that, and we all back each other up in doing that, there won’t be room for anything else. 

The FBI, as you all know better than anyone, is a hard ship to turn. The force of who we are together—of who you are, together—that’s what makes us so strong. 

You’re 38,000 men and women dedicated to protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. That’s pretty profound. 
It’s a mission that’s not easy to actually execute, and frankly, our work will never be done. But it’s noble work, and you chose it. And the person next to you chose it, and the person next to them. 

Nobody joined the FBI because they didn’t have any other options. Every one of us first chose, and then earned, the right to be here. And that choice we all made and earned means that all over the world, there are 38,000 men and women who get up every day and dedicate themselves to the FBI’s mission. And that shared commitment binds us together. 

One of the great strengths of the FBI is that we’re a team, separated by states and oceans and time zones, but still working together to support the FBI’s mission. 

Put another way, what’s one of the best things everybody in the FBI has going for them? It’s everybody else in the FBI. And there’s not any one person—not you, not me, not the person to your right or to your left—who all of this rises or falls on. 

Now, don’t misunderstand me. As I like to remind our agents, you’re all special. But none of us—let me say that again, none of us—is the one person holding this place together.  

It’s all of us, working together, that have made the FBI the premier law enforcement and intelligence agency in the world—the people our partners are vying to send their officers and deputies to train with, the people businesses call when their networks have been compromised or their operations have been taken offline, the people the American people turn to when their child is in danger. 

That didn’t happen overnight.  

Our brand as the people who will get things done—the professionals, who will do the right thing, the right way—that took time.  

That’s not to say we haven’t made mistakes in 116 years, but we’ve learned from them and always found a way through it. And I’m confident we will for the next 116 years, too. 

Commitment to Core Values 

Because if we stick together and stick to our core values—as individuals committed to doing the right thing, the right way—then as a team we’ll be doing that at scale.

And ultimately, we’ll be just fine. 

Our great strength is each other—that we’re all committed to the same mission, and to accomplishing it the same way—the right way, every time. That’s what the rule of law is all about. 

Unfortunately, all too often in today’s world, people’s standard for whether something was fair or objective—a Supreme Court decision, a verdict in a high-profile case, the investigation we brought, or the one we didn’t bring—is whether they liked the result, whether their side won or lost. 

But that’s not how independence and objectivity work. We’re not on any one side. We’re on the American people’s side—the Constitution’s side. And no matter what’s happening out there, in here we’ve got to stay committed to doing our work the right way every time—with rigor and integrity.  

That means following the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it, or doesn’t—because there’s always someone who doesn’t like it. It means conducting investigations without fear or favor. And it means not pursuing investigations when the predication is not there. 

Now let me be clear: We’re accountable to the American people, and we welcome the tough questions. But in terms of how we do the work, we’ve got to maintain our independence and objectivity—staying above partisanship and politics. 

That’s what the American people expect of us, and that’s what they deserve.  

Over more than 116 years, we’ve stopped terrorists, spies, and hackers, and put countless criminals behind bars. And the FBI has often stood for the very best of America, not just because of our successes, but because of the way we’ve accomplished them over the years. 

As I tell all our new graduates at Quantico, being part of this organization carries with it a solemn responsibility—to do our jobs well, yes, but more importantly, to do our jobs with honesty and integrity. 

For decades, the men and women of the FBI have been laying that foundation, earning that trust and building that legacy for the Bureau. And we’re going to keep doing that—we must keep doing that—abiding by the rule of law and adhering to our core values. 

There’s no room for compromise on that.  

Those are our guiding principles—our anchors. And we’ve got to adhere to them, no matter the test. That’s a commitment that as the FBI, we’ve got to keep making to the American people. 

Strength into Future 

In October 2017, I gave the commencement address to my first class of new agents at Quantico—class 17-03. Just last week, I spoke to the graduates of class 24-05. And I haven’t missed a single ceremony in between. 

That means over the course of seven-plus years and 39 graduations, I’ve had the privilege of giving more than 57-hundred special agents—over 40 percent of the agents on the job today—their badges and credentials.  

And in the last seven-plus years, I’ve watched those agents—with the indispensable men and women who make up our intel cadre and professional staff right alongside them—go out and do exceptional things.  

Every day, all over this country and all around the world, someone in the FBI—oftentimes more than one person—is out there doing something extraordinary. Sometimes those things make big news. Sometimes they’re known only to a select few. 

But every day, I’m inspired by the work you do. I’m inspired by the breadth, depth, and impact of it—by the way you do it, and by who you are. 
In the last seven-plus years, I’ve visited every single one of our 55 field offices twice, and I’m halfway through my third round.  

I’ve met with all of our Headquarters divisions and been to about thirty of our legal attaché offices, from Cairo to Warsaw to Mexico City to Tokyo. 

I’ve talked with scores of senior agents who are just as excited about the FBI as they were the day they joined 20-plus years ago. 

I’ve talked to new employees who feel like they’ve been shot out of a cannon, ready to take on the world, and to do it on behalf of the American people. 

And I’ve talked to hundreds and hundreds of folks in between—people who still can’t believe that they get to be here, doing this, working with the extraordinary people next to them. And they can’t wait to keep doing it for another 10, 15, 20 years. 

That’s the real strength of the FBI—the importance of our mission, the quality of our people, and their dedication to service over self. It’s an unshakeable foundation that’s stood the test of time, and cannot be easily moved. 

And it—you, the men and women of the FBI—are why the Bureau will endure and remain successful long into the future. 

For me, what’s made these last seven-plus years so rewarding is you—getting to know, and work with, all of you. It’s been the privilege of standing with you as you accomplish great things for the American people—of experiencing you discover something new, and listening to you talk about the communities you serve. 

I’m confident you’re just as inspired by this organization—by each other—as I am, and just as honored to be a part of it. To be a part of the FBI’s legacy of fidelity, bravery, integrity, and heart. 

Conclusion 

I’ll go ahead and close the same way I do for our new graduates at Quantico, by telling you there’s still a hell of an adventure ahead.  
I’m not usually quite that colorful with the graduates, but I think they get the message. 

As with any career, there will continue to be good days, and tough days—days when you’re really tested to your limits. So on those days, remember that—as part of the FBI—you don’t have an ordinary job; you have a calling.  

Remember that you chose, and earned, this job. You chose, and earned, the privilege of serving your country.  

The FBI needs you. The American people need you. 

So thank you for making that choice. Thank you for earning that privilege.

I’m so grateful you’re part of the FBI Family, and I want to thank you for making me a part of that family. And as we move into our next chapter, let’s stay focused—heads up, eyes forward, shoulder to shoulder. 

Be safe out there, and take care of each other. 

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

But tonight serves another very important purpose, too. It’s a time to recognize the outstanding work of the FBI Agents Association on behalf of your members and their families, on behalf of our fallen colleagues and their loved ones, and on behalf of the Bureau as a whole.

What you in the Agents Association do for your members—for our entire FBI Family—is absolutely essential. And before I get any further, I want to say thank you to everyone gathered here tonight: to the Agents Association for leading such important work, to our private sector partners whose contributions support it, and to each and every one of the agents, current and former, who make it all possible.

The Challenges We’re Up Against

What you all do for our FBI Family could not come at a more crucial time. We all know the Bureau’s work has never been easy, but when I look back over the course of my career in law enforcement, I’d be hard-pressed to remember a time when so many different threats to our public safety and national security were so elevated all at once.

We’re fighting violent crime that reached alarming levels during the pandemic, and still plagues far too many communities, but we’re making real progress. Last year, our Safe Streets and Violent Crime Task Forces arrested something like 50 bad guys per day, every day.

We’re also combating cyberattacks targeting our critical infrastructure and American businesses large and small. In fact, when it comes to ransomware alone, we’re investigating more than 100 different variants—each affecting scores of victims.

We’re tackling the cartels pushing fentanyl and other dangerous drugs into every corner of the country, claiming countless American lives. That work includes nearly 400 investigations—and those are just the ones into cartel leadership—and our seizure of enough fentanyl to kill 270 million Americans, in the past two years alone.

We’re also fighting to keep children—the most vulnerable among us—safe from abuse and exploitation, arresting hundreds of predators and rescuing hundreds of kids every year.

At the same time, we’re rooting out foreign adversaries looking to steal our innovation, influence our elections, and export repression to our shores. When it comes to China, for instance, we’ve got something like 2,000 active cases across every one of our field offices.

And, of course, we’re disrupting terrorism, our number-one priority—a threat that was already elevated but one we’ve seen rise to a whole new level in the year since Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel. In my time as Director, we’ve successfully thwarted multiple terrorist attacks in cities and communities around the country, and each one could’ve had devastating effects.

We’re doing this work day after day after day. And we’re doing it while facing challenges created by things like warrant-proof encryption and violence that actually targets law enforcement at unacceptably high levels. And it’s all coming at a time when—with the shortsighted prospect of budget cuts—the Bureau’s being asked to do even more.

Finding Inspiration in the FBI’s Workforce

Now I realize that sounds daunting, and it is. But my confidence in the men and women of the FBI—in our ability to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution—remains unwavering. And I make that assessment from a vantage point that, after about seven and a half years in this job, I think is pretty unique. I’ve rolled up my sleeves, I’ve lifted the hood, and I’ve taken a good hard look around. And what I’ve seen—what I continue to see—is inspiring.

Our folks put everything they’ve got—courage, selflessness, and strength—into their work. They show up for each other with compassion and support when their FBI Family members need them the most. Even when they’re off the clock, they’re out there demonstrating heroic acts of bravery and sacrifice—often to help people they’ve never met and won’t ever see again.

And that brings me to what I want to talk to you about tonight. The thing that’s most inspiring to me about the FBI when I reflect on all I’ve seen and experienced with you these last seven and a half years: the heart of the FBI.

Giving Our All for the Job

Way back, when I was less than two months into my tenure as Director—when, as my family constantly points out, my hair was a lot less gray, although I prefer the term “silver,”—I gave the commencement address to my first class of new agents at Quantico, class 17-03. Last month, I spoke to the graduates of class 24-04.

Time flies when you’re having fun.

And in that time, I haven’t missed a single ceremony. That means, over the course of seven-plus years and 38 graduations, I’ve had the privilege of giving more than fifty-six-hundred special agents—over 40 percent of the agents on the job today—their badges and credentials.

Fifty-six-hundred new agents’ hands shaken. Fifty-six-hundred graduation photos snapped. Fifty-six-hundred families personally welcomed into our FBI Family.

I’ve also had the privilege of running across a bunch of those agents again in my visits to our offices across the country and around the world. And from this point of view, from where I sit, I can tell you that our new agent workforce is simply extraordinary—and remains unparalleled.

We’re graduating new agents like Raquel Mobley in New Orleans’ Shreveport RA. Fresh out of the Academy, she secured three life sentences for an especially heinous subject. He’d preyed on at least eight victims—three of them children—and was found guilty of kidnapping, rape, and assault.

But that was just the beginning for Raquel. Her first few years onboard also included a guilty verdict in a civil rights case, prison sentences for a pair who’d embezzled from the local police union, and the disruption of a dogfighting ring spanning four states—and the rescue of more than 70 dogs.

Oh, and in her spare time? Raquel also became a crisis negotiator and earned her EMT certification.

We’ve got inspiring agents like Raquel—employees of the very highest caliber—in every office across the country.

Take the Chicago SWAT agent who was shot in his dominant hand, so he retrained himself to shoot left-handed and requalified for SWAT left-handed.

Or the Atlanta agent who unexpectedly came across a violent gang fugitive, chased the bad guy into a car, and got caught in the door. The subject then dragged him onto the interstate and—in the hopes of shaking him loose—began ramming other cars. The agent broke his arm, legs, and pelvis but still managed to fire his weapon, stop the subject, and ensure the arrest.

All in a day’s work, right?

As many of you know firsthand, exceptional agents giving their all for the job are nothing new for the FBI. They’re simply following in the footsteps of a long line of agents who’ve come before them, like tonight’s Distinguished Service Honoree, retired Special Agent Jack Garcia.

You could say Jack’s career is the stuff of legend, but it’s better than that because it’s true. In his 26 years with the Bureau, Jack worked on hundreds of undercover operations, burrowing deep into the worlds of drug cartels and organized crime.

Among his many accomplishments? Infiltrating the Gambino crime family, which led to arrests and convictions for dozens of mobsters. In fact, Jack was so good at fooling the mob, at one point they considered inducting him into the family. Now that’s commitment to the job.

So Jack, and agents like him, certainly set the bar high. But today’s agents are just as inspiring in their dedication to the mission. And I’m far from the only one who thinks so.

Back when I first got here, we were getting something like 12,000 applications a year from people who wanted to become special agents. In the time since, that pace has tripled.

Those soaring numbers come at a time when law enforcement in general is struggling with recruiting and speak volumes about the strength of the FBI brand—what the Bureau means to people—the ones we do the work with, and the ones we do the work for.

It tells me the folks out there find our workforce just as inspiring as I do. The American public sees our workforce making a difference, putting their whole heart into their work, and that’s something they want to be a part of.

Being There for Our FBI Family

But there’s another aspect of heart that I see our folks display all the time, too. And that’s an extraordinary capacity for kindness and compassion—for taking care of each other. You can see it in a whole bunch of ways, in a whole host of places, but let me tell you about when it’s been particularly striking to me.

While in this role, I decided I wanted to make a point of reaching out to employees and FBI families going through especially tough times. Maybe they’ve just received a difficult diagnosis or lost a spouse or a child. The circumstances are often different, but these are folks who, without a doubt, are really going through it.

But during these moments—a call, a visit—I’ve noticed over the years our people tell me, pretty much without exception, how blown away and touched they’ve been by their colleagues, by the outpouring of compassion and support they’ve received from their FBI Family. I’ve made over a hundred of those calls and visits over the years, and I hear it every time.

As Natalie just mentioned, America—the world, really—knows the FBI for our fidelity, bravery, and integrity. And that’s great. They should. But I wish they also knew how fiercely our folks care for each other and how much of our heart we put into our FBI Family.

Because the American people don’t know, for instance, about the agent who learned her colleague’s wife was in desperate need of a kidney, so she donated her own and saved an FBI Family member’s life.

They don’t know that when Hurricanes Milton and Helene hit back-to-back, our Tampa Field Office came together to keep each other safe. The minute the storms moved out, they mobilized to assist their colleagues, helping more than a dozen fellow employees begin recovering from the catastrophic damage and losses they’d suffered.

And they don’t know that we’ve got countless other stories just like those.

I’m sure that hearing the FBI takes care of each other doesn’t come as news to anybody here tonight, though, because the Agents Association is a perfect example of the kind of compassion and heart I’m talking about.

Providing scholarships for the children and spouses of agents who’ve passed away, or lending financial assistance to members experiencing unforeseen hardship—the work you do on behalf of our FBI Family is remarkable. Taking care of each other is at the core of who you are—who we are—and I’m eternally grateful for it.

Going Above and Beyond for Our Communities

But I can’t stop there. Because in my time here, it’s become clear there’s one more way our people really show their heart.

In the last seven and a half years, I’ve visited every single one of our field offices twice, and I’m halfway through my third round. I’ve met with all of our Headquarters divisions and been to about 30 of our legal attaché offices, from Cairo to Warsaw to Mexico City to Tokyo. I’ve sat down privately with frontline supervisors and informal leaders, probably thousands of them in all.

And I’ve seen, time and again, how the FBI’s men and women go above and beyond for the people in their communities. Not just in the core of their work but even when—or maybe especially when—they’re off the clock.

This past August, for instance, while visiting some of our offices in the Midwest, I learned about Special Agent Amy Chandler. Amy works crimes against children out of the Minot RA in North Dakota. Most of her work takes place on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, and she’s seen children in some of the worst situations you can imagine. In the past two years alone, she’s secured three life sentences in child sexual abuse cases.

But what Amy has done professionally pales in comparison to her contributions to the community outside of work. She knew the reservation had some of the highest rates of children in foster care in the state and that there weren’t nearly enough homes available for them. So she volunteered to foster not one, not two, but three Native American children.

They’d experienced some pretty terrible things before they got to Amy. But now? They’re thriving. One even wants to be an FBI agent when she grows up—and that doesn’t surprise me one bit.

I also wasn’t surprised to learn Amy’s FBI colleagues had rallied around the family. They drive the kids to practices, celebrate their birthdays, share holidays with them. And last month, Amy’s teammates from four cities across North Dakota turned up for a party.

What were they celebrating? She and those three kids had just gotten back from court and made their adoption official.

That’s the kind of impact FBI employees are making throughout their communities. And what’s even more inspiring is that our organization is full of men and women like Amy.

Consider that every year—so, ahead of time—we set aside a date for an Honorary Medals ceremony in anticipation of our employees’ heroism—recognizing heroism both on the job and off the clock.

At this year’s ceremony alone, we recognized maybe half a dozen agents who’d saved kids from drowning. And all of them had done it while they were on vacation, or at the local swimming pool, just going about their daily lives. They weren’t working, and this wasn’t part of their core duties. They just saw someone in need and jumped in to help.

Just like your own vice president, Jennifer Morrow, whose bravery we also recognized this year. Jennifer was waiting for a flight home from Denver when she saw another passenger in distress. She jumped into action, performing CPR, using a defibrillator, and helping the emergency responders once they arrived.

The man was a perfect stranger, and she saved his life. And for the record, when asked if I could mention her this evening, she said, “I hate this, but I guess I can’t say no.”

That’s not surprising to me, but you deserve it, Jennifer. And so do all the men and women across the Bureau who are putting their hearts into helping others.

Like the Portland agent out for a morning run who rescued a mentally ill woman off the train tracks in the face of an oncoming train. Or the Charlotte agent who used sheer physical force to rescue a woman from a fiery car crash, extinguish her burning clothes, and render first aid.

That kind of resilience and grit combined with compassion and selflessness—it’s extraordinary. But it’s something I get to see day in and day out from the men and women of the FBI.

What the FBI’s Heart Means to Others

Jennifer’s discomfort at being highlighted that I mentioned a few moments ago is something I encounter all the time—vintage Bureau. And that simultaneous courage and humility translates into respect and gratitude from the folks I talk to across the country and around the world.

I see and hear it in my conversations with our law enforcement partners, nearly weekly, and I’ve sat down with more than 3,000 chiefs, sheriffs, state police superintendents, and more from all 50 states over these years.

I see and hear it from our National Academy students—the best of the best from law enforcement agencies here at home and abroad—and I’ve given diplomas to more than 5,000 National Academy graduates by now.

I see and hear it just as consistently from our foreign partners, and I’ve held hundreds of meetings with my counterparts over the years—more than 70 countries.

What I see and what I hear, wherever I am, is that the work we’re doing every day—the investigations we’re conducting, the partnerships we’re building, the communities we’re protecting—that’s what makes people want to work with us and be associated with us. Again, because of the heart the FBI’s men and women put into everything they do. 

There’s another place I see that admiration and respect—and pride, too. It’s among our own workforce and shines through particularly clearly at our graduation ceremonies.

Since I’ve been Director, we’ve had more than 400 agents receive their badges and credentials from “guest presenters”—immediate family members, usually their parents or spouses, and themselves current or retired employees.

That’s more than 400 members of our FBI Family who chose to carry on their own families’ legacies by devoting their lives to working with us. To me, that speaks loudly—profoundly—about the strength and heart of the FBI. Because what matters most in our lives? I’d wager everyone in this room would say the people we love.

So when I’m up there on stage with them and see up close our employees encouraging their loved ones to join them here at the Bureau, and then celebrating and becoming emotional when they do, it’s a pretty powerful and moving testament to the way our own folks feel about their organization. 

And once folks join us, they can’t get enough. You’d be hard-pressed to find an organization, public or private, anywhere on the planet with a retention rate as high as ours. I’m talking something like over 99 percent for our special agent cadre. And I firmly believe that’s because once you’ve been a part of this mission, and you’ve had the opportunity to work with colleagues who throw their hearts into serving others, you just know there’s nothing else quite like it anywhere in the world.

So when I think about all those inspiring men and women who are sacrificing so much for so many, and when I think about the respect and appreciation I consistently hear from the people we do the work with and the people we do the work for, I can’t help but feel grateful for the privilege of leading this organization.

It’s a privilege few can claim, but one who can is someone who’s always enjoyed tonight’s event. As I said at the beginning, we’re fortunate to have Judge Webster here with us this evening.

Many of you have had the honor of speaking with him over the years. And if you think back on those conversations, you might recall a phrase he often uses when describing the character of the FBI. He says, “Fidelity, bravery, and integrity…and heart.”

And he says it so consistently that you’d wonder if maybe he’s got a different copy of our seal tucked away somewhere, but I’ve got a feeling it’s the same thing I’ve been talking about here tonight. Because from the bird’s-eye view that we have, it’s unmistakable that the men and women who make up our FBI are extraordinary—for what they do, and for who they are.

Conclusion

Before I wrap up, I want to share with you one last story. It’s about a little girl named Oliviah Hall. I had the honor of meeting Oliviah a few years ago. She was nine years old at the time, and she had glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

But her dream was to work for the FBI. So a foundation like Make-A-Wish connected her with her local field office in Cleveland, where Special Agent J.B. Breen volunteered to be this little girl’s training agent, so to speak.

Thanks to J.B. and the rest of the team in Cleveland, Oliviah did it all. She went to SWAT training, kicked in doors, and fired simulated weapons. Then she traveled to Quantico, where she met the HRT K9s and even got to arrest her dad in Hogan’s Alley. We didn’t make her write up a 302, but otherwise, very real stuff.

We even held a graduation ceremony for Oliviah. And I’m talking the whole nine yards—color guard, national anthem, executives in suits, everything. More than a thousand people came, from new agent trainees to National Academy students. It was the biggest ceremony we’d ever held.

Now, in between all those FBI experiences, she came to Headquarters to see me. And when she got there, she walked right up to me and said, “What’s up, Wray?!”

That day, she also gave me a gray bracelet that said “Team Oliviah” on it. Now, I don’t know if this is going to surprise you all, but I’m not really a bracelet kind of guy. But I was so taken with Oliviah—just like everybody who met her—that I wore that bracelet proudly.

Tragically, Oliviah passed away not long after. Everybody in our Cleveland office took it hard, but nobody so hard as J.B. Breen.

He and the Halls had grown close. When he wasn’t taking Oliviah to SWAT training, he was accompanying her to doctor’s appointments. And their families had formed such a bond that J.B. and his wife even named their newborn daughter after her: Jenna Oliviah-Irene Breen.

An interviewer once asked J.B. what he considered the highlight of his FBI career. This is a guy who’s worked counterterrorism cases, served on the SWAT team, traveled the globe. And you know what he said?

He said his greatest professional achievement was what he’d been able to do for Oliviah.

It was such a gift to have gotten to meet her and to help make some of her FBI dreams come true. I kept wearing that little gray bracelet for months, even after Oliviah passed away. And to this day, I’m grateful to J.B. for building that relationship between her family and our FBI Family.

Agents like J.B.—and like Raquel, Amy, and Jennifer—all day, every day, they inspire me. After about seven and a half years, you might think I’d have grown accustomed to it, but in fact, the opposite is true. The more I’ve gotten to know the FBI’s men and women, the longer we’ve worked together, the more they inspire me.

So to all the agents here tonight—and to the entire FBI Family—I want to say thank you.

Thank you for the courage and commitment you demonstrate day in and day out—both in the course of your work and outside of it. Thank you for the compassion and kindness you show to each other. Thank you for going above and beyond for the communities we serve.

Thank you for your fidelity, for your bravery, and for your integrity. And most of all, thank you for your heart.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Introduction: Las Vegas shooting and 9/11 Memorial & Museum  

Thank you to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum for the invitation to join you this evening. And thank you to all the staff here, for everything you do for our nation, and in particular, for the FBI.

This 9/11 Memorial & Museum means a great deal to me. I haven’t spoken very much about this publicly, but a visit here helped shape some things for me, very early in my time as FBI Director. I was sworn in in August of 2017, just before the 16th anniversary of 9/11. And one of the earliest trips I made was here, to meet with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum staff, where I had been asked to provide remarks.

Those remarks were scheduled for the fall of 2017. And as many of you know, that October, a 64-year-old man blockaded himself in a Las Vegas hotel room overlooking a music festival. And in just 10 minutes, he rained down more than 1,000 rounds into the crowd, striking more than 400 people and killing 60. And in total, more than 800 people were injured as they panicked and scattered for cover.

So in my second month as FBI Director, I found myself traveling here—to the site of the deadliest terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil—while the people of Las Vegas—residents, guests, and first responders—and all of us as a nation—were still reeling from the deadliest mass shooting in this country in recent history.

Just before the event here in New York, I took a tour of the museum with my wife and daughter, who was then 22. As we followed the ramps down, under the foundations of where the World Trade Center buildings had stood, I kept an eye on my daughter. Because while I had spent 9/11 in FBI Headquarters, she had been in elementary school in 2001, too young to really remember and understand the attacks.

As we took the tour, we looked at artifacts recovered from Ground Zero, saw images of the thousands of victims, and heard audio recordings from witnesses. We saw the structural beams where each plane impacted the buildings, the emergency vehicles crushed when the buildings collapsed, and the sea wall that barely held back the East River from flooding the subway system. 

And it seemed to me that every time we turned a corner, my daughter had another “aha” moment. I could literally see her experiencing the gravity of that day, perhaps for the first time. I watched it all become more real for her, and I realized that evening, that I needed to take my experience watching her experience that day back with me to the FBI somehow.

Because as I started thinking more about it, it occurred to me that many of our newest FBI employees were closer to her in age than to me, and from watching her, I knew I wanted our new agents and analysts to not only remember 9/11 as a historical moment. I wanted them to understand and feel the urgency of that moment, the senseless violence and what it cost our nation, to have their own version of those “aha” moments I saw in my daughter’s face, so they would have a deeper understanding of just how much is on the line, and what a tremendous responsibility we have in our mission.

Let me take you back, for a moment, to that scene in Las Vegas. 

I had gone out there to meet with the FBI’s special agents, evidence response team, and victim specialists and with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and other first responder units that worked on scene. I visited the command post and went over to the venue that became the site of the horrific attack. 

As I walked around, I was struck by the emotion in the faces and the eyes of the people still processing the scene. They were working through the exhaustion—mental and physical—to respond to what had happened. And as I processed their reactions, and my own, as I spoke with partners and first responders, as I heard them describe the way the consequences of the violence were hitting them in the gut, and the way they were pushing through it to get the job done, I realized I was seeing the same phenomenon there, at that crime scene, and in that command post, that I had seen captured so well here in New York.

On the flight home a few hours later, I became convinced that the idea of an FBI 9/11 Memorial & Museum experience needed to become a reality. And when I got back to Washington, I told my team to find a way for all new FBI Academy classes to visit Lower Manhattan as part of their initial training. It took some time to put together, but starting with the first classes of 2019—and with the exception of a few classes during the pandemic who had to participate virtually—every new special agent and every new intelligence analyst has toured the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. But they don’t just visit and take the tour—they also take a class with the staff here to learn more about what happened that day.  

We’ve now had nearly 6,0002 trainees experience this memorial, and I’m proud that thousands more will have the opportunity in the years to come. Because anyone who visits this place comes away understanding a little better: Why we’re so focused on integrating intelligence into everything we do, why we emphasize partnerships, why it’s so crucial that we approach every task with rigor and urgency, why we’ve always got to be willing to adapt and innovate to meet new threats, and why we have to work together with our intelligence and law enforcement partners at all levels, leveraging our collective strengths and resources and authorities to stay ahead of the threat—every threat—all the time.

Elevated threats 

When I took this job in 2017, it seemed to me that some of the changes the Bureau had made after 9/11 were, by then, 16 years later, in some ways being taken for granted. In fact, some commentators were criticizing the FBI for maintaining counterterrorism as our top priority, claiming the threat from foreign terrorist organizations was over.

How does that sound today, a year after the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7, when one of our closest allies was attacked by terrorists who killed something like 1,300 people that day?

And that’s in a country with a total population of less than 10 million—put another way, in the United States, that would proportionally be like killing nearly 40,000 people in a single day. 

Even before that attack, I’d been very public in saying the terrorism threat was already elevated. In fact, in the summer of 2023, I told Congress that the terrorism threat was elevated across the board—international, domestic, and the state-sponsored threat. 

When it comes to state-sponsored terrorism, Iran has been aggressive in plotting attacks against former U.S. officials in retaliation for the death of Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani. In 2022, a Quds Force officer was charged for his attempt to arrange the murder of former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Fortunately, the individual he attempted to pay to carry out the attack was one of our confidential human sources.

Then, last year, three people hired by the government of Iran were charged for plotting the murder of a journalist right here in New York who had spoken out against the regime’s human rights abuses. And just recently, we added charges against a senior Iranian official and other members of his network for their role in the plot. That was their second attempt to silence her. Both times, we were there to stop them.

Those were both direct attempts at violence, but we’ve also stopped Iranian cyberattacks that could have had very tangible and horrific real-world results—like one that threatened to take a New England children’s hospital offline.

They also remain the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, through support to their proxies and other foreign terrorist organizations throughout the world, like Lebanese Hizbollah.

And that was all before October 7, 2023.

Since that attack on Israel, the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans to a whole ‘nother level. Over the past year, we’ve seen a rogue’s gallery of foreign terrorist organizations call for attacks against Americans and our allies. Hizballah expressed its support and praise for Hamas—and despite Israel’s actions in recent weeks—still poses a threat to U.S. interests in the region. Al Qaeda issued its most specific call to attack the United States in the last five years. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula—or AQAP—called on jihadists to attack Americans and Jewish people everywhere. And ISIS urged its followers to target Jewish communities both in Europe and the United States. 

And violent extremists around the world are responding to those calls. 

In September, a Pakistani citizen living in Canada was arrested after he attempted to travel from Canada to New York City, where he intended to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish center in Brooklyn. 

He was aiming to execute his plan on or around the October 7 anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel. And his stated goal was to, quote, “slaughter as many Jewish people as possible,” all in the name of ISIS. During one communication, he noted his ambition for this attack, and here’s another quote: “If we succeed with our plan, this would be the largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.”

Just a few weeks ago, we arrested a man from Afghanistan in Oklahoma City who had plotted to conduct an attack on Election Day. He had made plans to take care of his family and to sell all of his possessions, including his home, to raise money to purchase weapons and ammunition that he intended to use in an attack targeting large gatherings of people.

He and his co-conspirator were engaged in this plotting with an individual overseas he knew to be affiliated with ISIS. And he intended his attack, and his own death, to be an act of martyrdom on ISIS’s behalf.  

Thanks to the great work of the FBI team, including an FBI undercover employee and confidential human sources, we were able to disrupt the plot before he could get access to the weapons he was looking for.    

But I need to be clear that we—even with our sources, and working with our partners here at home and around the world—are not omniscient, and the threats are only getting more complex.

As many of you know, Hizballah, al Qaeda, AQAP, and ISIS haven’t always seen eye to eye—and that’s putting it mildly. But they’re now aligned in their calls for attacks on us and our allies.  

And that’s particularly concerning as Iran grows frustrated with its inability to make their attempted strikes into Israel effective. And we remain concerned, from the way they’re talking publicly, that some of these adversaries could overlook their ideological differences to find common cause in attacking us. 

What makes the threat of a coordinated attack seem even more real is a number of violent extremists we’ve seen recently cross our borders— from the north and the south—in an attempt to advance plots against Americans.  

In June, for instance, the Bureau and our Joint Terrorism Task Forces worked with ICE in multiple cities across the country to arrest several people with suspected international terrorist ties. Leading up to those arrests, hundreds of FBI employees dedicated countless hours to understand the threat and identify additional individuals of concern. 

Now, the physical security of the border is, of course, not in the FBI’s lane, but as the threat has escalated, we’re working closely with our partners in law enforcement and the intelligence community to find and stop violent extremists who would cross our borders to harm Americans and our interests. And as concerning as the known or suspected terrorists encountered at the border and arrested by ICE are, perhaps even more concerning are those we don’t know about, because they provided fake documents or we didn’t have information connecting them to terrorism when they first arrived in the United States. 

So, we’ve got suspected terrorists who have crossed into the United States, an Iran that gets more brazen by the day, and foreign terrorist organizations who otherwise hate each other moving toward being able to work together. And that’s on top of increased tensions from a war in the Middle East, the instability in Syria and the foreign fighters in prisons there we don’t have a good enough handle on, and a deteriorating CT environment in Afghanistan and Africa following U.S. and allied withdrawals in those regions.  

But, as I said in Nigeria when I was visiting partners there this summer, we cannot be thinking of these threats as oceans away. They have a direct impact on our national security.  

And like that message in the side-view mirrors of our cars—”objects in the mirror are closer than they appear”—we have to remain vigilant to the danger these threats pose to us here, at home.  

And that’s why terrorism remains the FBI’s number one priority. 

Domestic terrorism and fuzzy lines 

But the international terrorism threat is far from the only terrorism threat we’re contending with.  

Over the past several years, we’ve elevated two of the categories within the domestic terrorism landscape as national threat priorities, meaning we assess these threats pose a similar level of risk as ISIS, for instance. Those are racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists—particularly those advocating for the superiority of the white race. And anti-government – anti-authority violent extremists, which include militia violent extremists, anarchist violent extremists, and sovereign citizen violent extremists. 

We categorize violent extremists this way because it helps us understand connections and motivations, but we recognize these distinctions are not important to the violent extremists themselves. They don’t care how we categorize them, and it’s getting harder to do so cleanly. 

For instance, in February of 2023, a man in Texas was sentenced to five years in prison for his attempt to destroy a natural gas pipeline as part of his ideological fight against capitalism and climate change. His ultimate intent was to weaken Texas’ energy independence and cause significant economic damage in the process.  

Another example: in May, we got a guilty plea from Sarah Beth Clendaniel, the first of two defendants involved in the plot to destroy the Baltimore regional power grid in late 2022 and early 2023. In September, she was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Her co-conspirator is awaiting trial. They acted in furtherance of “accelerationism,” a belief that violent action will precipitate a societal collapse that will somehow lead to a world more closely aligning with their ideology.  

Clendaniel and her co-conspirator specifically wanted to help create a white-nationalist society. So, they were primarily motivated by racial prejudice, but that led them to an anarchist, anti-government point of view. 

From late 2022 through February 2023, they made plans to destroy five electrical substations surrounding the city of Baltimore. They believed this would shut down the Baltimore regional power grid. Fortunately, one of the people they tried to conspire with was an FBI confidential human source. They showed our source infrastructure maps of Baltimore and three suburban towns, they talked about how they believed they could completely destroy the substations with well-placed firearm shots, and they told our source about their plans to hit the five substations all in the same day, which they believed would cause, quote, “a cascading effect.”  

The woman who pled guilty in May told our source that if they were successful, and this is another quote: “It would probably, permanently, completely lay this city to waste.”  

They never got close to carrying out their plan.

But what makes this more concerning is we know they were communicating with like-minded individuals in other cities. These are not people in an organized or coherent or structured group. They all just had a common interest—to help bring down our current society so a white nationalist society could spring up in its place. 

Even more concerning—more and more we’re seeing a crossover in goals and tactics between this set of conspirators, who are motivated primarily by racial hate, and the anti-government – anti-authority violent extremists who just want to see the government burn. 

In fact, we’re increasingly seeing that people who are attracted to extremist violence are ideologically fluid—they can switch between motivations or even hold contradictory motivations at the same time.  

We’ve seen subjects posting white nationalist propaganda while voicing support for ISIS, using both to justify their violence. We’ve seen suspects justifying violence against women, simultaneously through religious zealotry and by aligning with the self-proclaimed “involuntarily celibate” or “incel” movement. And just like ISIS finding common cause with al Qaeda, if they can find people with common violent extremist goals — targeted violence against specific people or structures of authority, they don’t need their co-conspirators to agree on precisely why they intend to commit the violence. 

Partnerships and conclusion 

So with all of that to contend with, I often get asked: How do we pivot as the threat changes? 

I tend to agree with a former senior intelligence official I recently sat down with, who told me she hates the term “pivot”—the idea that we can simply move on from one threat to the next. 

In our line of work, we almost never pivot away from a threat. We just cover down on more and more threats as things evolve. 

So, what is the solution? How do we deal with an ever-changing, ever-expanding set of terrorism threats to Americans and our allies? I think we have the answer, though it’s a lot easier to conceptualize than to put into practice. 

We have to keep applying the lessons we learned here, at Ground Zero, to our changing world. We have to leverage intelligence in everything we do, working to pull facts from a world where encryption is ubiquitous and exploited by terrorists and criminals alike. We have to keep emphasizing partnerships, not just with the intelligence and law enforcement agencies we’re so integrated with now, but also with foreign governments, private industry, and the public—the people and communities who notice when their friends and neighbors are at risk of escalating from radicalization to violence. 

We have to approach every task with rigor and urgency, doing the right thing the right way every time. And we need to adapt and innovate, staying ahead of the threat. 

So, while I’ve talked a lot tonight about how complex the terrorism landscape has become, I hope you’ll also walk away from this evening with the knowledge that the nearly 6,000 new FBI special agents and intelligence analysts who have experienced this 9/11 Memorial & Museum since 2019. Plus the rest of the FBI workforce who interact with those who have gone through the training here have all taken those lessons on board. And they, too, feel the sense of urgency this mission demands. 

I also want you to know that while the threat continues to show up in unexpected places, we’ll continue to be there, working with our partners to disrupt it, just like we did in New York, when we arrested the man who came across the border from Canada intending to conduct a mass shooting for ISIS. And in Oklahoma City, when we arrested the violent extremist from Afghanistan plotting to conduct an attack on Election Day. And in Baltimore, when we arrested the accelerationists who wanted to shut down the city and bring down society as we know it.

But none of this is easy. 

We’ve got to continue doing the hard work of staying focused on an evolving array of threats to keep Americans safe. And we cannot do that alone. We need you. 

There’s a phrase written here at the memorial addressed to the victims of the attacks in 2001: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”

Everyone at the memorial and museum is committed to that promise. And you’re holding true to that commitment, every time you share this experience with others 

Whether it’s with my family, with all the FBI agents and analysts who come as part of their training, or with the millions of people who visit every year to experience their own “aha” moments. 

So, I’m here tonight—first and foremost—to say thank you to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum for your partnership with the FBI. 

And to thank you, too, for your own service to our nation. Your work makes a difference in how we in law enforcement and the intelligence community operate. And our work together is never finished. 

But I want you to know—whenever we find success in holding back the tide of terrorism, you have had a hand in that.  

Thank you.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

For Davenport, arriving in the wooded highlands of Arizona 16 years ago was like a dream come true. He grew up in nearby Holcomb; in high school, he played football and wrestled with Native American classmates. He went to Mesa Community College in Phoenix and then Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, where he studied law.

After a few years as a lawyer, he yearned for more adventure and joined the FBI in 1999. His first assignment was in the Dallas Field Office, where he worked on civil rights and public corruption cases when he wasn’t deployed on SWAT operations. He was then assigned to the resident agency in Pinetop-Lakeside where he was, for a brief period, the only special agent.

Davenport, who is retiring later this year, actively recruits others to experience working on Indian country cases. For many agents, it’s as close as you can get to frontline law enforcement—responding to active crime scenes, interviewing witness and victims and working closely with partners from other law enforcement agencies to build cases. Actively working those cases, Davenport says, helps illuminate why Indian country is as deserving of resources as anywhere else.

“Why should the reservation be overlooked simply because they’re a reservation, or because they don’t have all the amenities that Chicago or L.A. have?” Davenport said. “They’re still people, and they still deserve that same justice that everybody else does.”

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Montana – The FBI is seeking the public’s assistance in locating Sa’Wade Birdinground, a 13-year-old member of the Crow Tribe, who has been missing since October 6, 2024.

There have been no known contacts with her family or friends since she disappeared. Sa’Wade has been described as a quiet, kind and artistic child who likes to laugh. Sa’Wade is well liked by her peers and teachers. She has never run away from home or been in any serious trouble. Her disappearance from home is totally out of character for her, and her family is very concerned about her. A Missing Endangered Person Advisory (MEPA) has been issued by the Montana Department of Justice due to concerns for her safety.

“We are doing everything we can to bring Sa’Wade home safely. The community’s help is crucial at this time, and we urge anyone with information to come forward immediately,” said Jeramie Middlestead, Big Horn County Sheriff. “Sa’Wade’s family is deeply worried, and any information, no matter how small, can make a difference.”

“The FBI is working closely with local law enforcement to find Sa’Wade Birdinground,” said Rhys Williams, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Salt Lake City Division. “We are asking for the public’s assistance in locating her, and we won’t stop until we have answers. If you have any information, please contact us.”

Based on the investigation thus far and the length of time that she has been missing, we are taking this case very seriously and chasing down every lead. Investigators are searching, canvassing multiple neighborhoods, and interviewing members of our community. We urge anyone with information to please call 406-665-9798. Any details, no matter how small, could assist in bringing her home safely.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

Special Agents Durant and O’Hare relied heavily on the Mobile Biometrics Application (MBA) and Special Processing Center (SPC) teams to expedite the identification of victims. These specialized units, operating out of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia, provided agents in the field with real-time support, often pulling fingerprints and running them through reference files within minutes. In some cases, results were returned in as little as 15 to 20 minutes, streamlining the identification process during critical moments.

The MBA team, in particular, played a vital role by swiftly processing prints, actively monitoring quality control, and troubleshooting more difficult cases. When automated systems didn’t yield a match, the SPC team took over, applying manual processes to assist with identification. This seamless coordination between field agents and the FBI’s lab-based experts highlights the Bureau’s ability to deploy advanced technology in disaster zones, ensuring that victims’ families receive answers as quickly as possible.

While working to bring closure to grieving families, the agents have also felt the storm’s personal impact. O’Hare’s daughter and grandchildren evacuated from North Carolina to stay with her in Upper East Tennessee after being displaced by power loss. “I joined the FBI to help people,” O’Hare said. “In situations like this, that’s why I am doing my very small part to try to provide some closure for the families of the victims.”

As the FBI and its partners work to support communities impacted by Hurricane Helene, the Bureau issued a warning about scammers looking to exploit survivors and mislead charitable donors. Learn to spot the red flags of disaster fraud at fbi.gov/DisasterFraud.