Showing posts with label FBI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FBI. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

FBI identifies a suspect behind most bomb threats to dozens of HBCUs

The FBI released the following update on threats targeting HBCUs and has announced that a single minor youth is the main suspect in most racially motivated bomb threats to dozens of Historically Black Colleges and Universities earlier this year that terrorized students.

Update on Threats Targeting Historically Black Schools

The investigation of racially motivated threats of violence targeting historically Black colleges and universities has identified one juvenile believed to be responsible for a majority of the threats and the Department of Justice has worked with state prosecutors to hold the minor accountable.

Since January 2022, more than 50 HBCUs, houses of worship, and other faith-based and academic institutions across the country have received racially motivated threats of violence.

The investigation of these threats led to the identification of several minors believed to be responsible for the first set of threats made between January 4 and February 1, 2022. Further FBI investigation identified one juvenile believed to be responsible for these threats.

Given the federal limitations for charging under-age perpetrators with federal crimes, the Department of Justice worked with state prosecutors to hold them accountable on charges unrelated to the specific threats to the HBCUs. This individual is under restrictions and monitoring of his online activities.

Because of the subject’s age, no additional information can be provided.

The FBI is continuing to investigate additional unrelated threats that appear to have originated overseas:

  • A distinct set of threats primarily targeting HBCUs received between February 8 and March 2, affecting at least 19 institutions.
  • A distinct set of threats which began June 7 and are ongoing. More than 250 colleges—including seven HBCUs—over 100 high schools, and two junior high schools received bomb and/or active shooter threats.

The FBI is working with our local, state, federal, and international law enforcement partners to pursue those responsible for these threats, and we are asking anyone with information to report it to 1-800-CALL-FBI, or online at tips.fbi.gov.

Hate-fueled and racist threats of violence cause the victims real distress. These threats disrupt the learning environment and the education of college students, as well as other citizens. The FBI will not tolerate anyone trying to instill fear in any community, especially one that has experienced violence and threats of violence historically. The FBI will continue to vigorously pursue anyone responsible for these ongoing threats with help from our law enforcement partners at the federal, state, and local levels.

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

FBI investigating bomb threats at HBCUs

Federal authorities said they are investigating numerous bomb threats at Carolina-based historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

In a statement to NBC affiliate WRAL, FBI spokesperson Shelley Lynch confirmed that the Bureau is investigating these new cases at Fayetteville State University and at Clafin University located in North and South Carolina, respectively.

"The FBI takes all threats seriously, and we are committed to thoroughly and aggressively investigating these threats. We would like to remind members of the public that if they observe anything suspicious or have information about potential threats to report it to law enforcement immediately, call 1-800-CALL FBI or submit a tip to tips.fbi.gov," Lynch said in a statement.

Saturday, August 21, 2021

Man Sentenced for Burning Cross on Front Yard of African American Family in June 2020

ABINGDON, Va.– A Marion man, who burned a cross on the front yard of an African American family in June 2020 following a civil rights protest earlier in the day, was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison.

James Brown, 41, pleaded guilty in April to criminal interference with federally protected housing rights based upon the victim’s race.

“When Brown burned a cross in the victim’s front yard, he carried out a despicable act of intimidation, interfered with a federally protected housing right, and broke a serious federal law,” Acting U.S. Attorney Bubar stated today. “Today’s sentence demonstrates that such threatening acts of hatred will be swiftly investigated and prosecuted. We thank the FBI and state partners for their hard work on this important case.”

“We have zero tolerance in our communities for those individuals violating anyone's civil rights. Investigating allegations of civil rights violations continues to be a top priority for the FBI; and through our community liaison and law enforcement partnerships we will continue to investigate and mitigate the unwanted and unwarranted behavior of racially motivated individuals,” Special Agent in Charge Stanley M. Meador said today. “FBI Richmond encourages anyone who may have knowledge or is a victim of a hate crime, to report it to law enforcement.”

According to court documents, Brown burned a cross on the front yard of an African American family in the early morning hours of June 14, 2020. One of the family members had organized a civil rights protest the day before in Marion, Virginia. Brown admitted to burning the cross to two witnesses and also was known to use racial epithets when referring to the African American family. At his guilty plea hearing, Brown admitted that he had burned the cross in order to threaten and intimidate the African American family.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Marion Police Department, and the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Zachary T. Lee and Daniel Murphy are prosecuting the case.

Wednesday, May 05, 2021

Rep. Bobby Rush Introduces Legislation To Require Full, Public Release of COINTELPRO Files

Today, U.S. Representative Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) introduced legislation that would compel government agencies to release, and require public disclosure, of all records related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s nefarious COINTELPRO operation, a series of covert and illegal projects aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations including the Black Panther Party, and individuals including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and was a close friend to Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton, who was assassinated in his sleep in 1969 in a raid carried out as part of COINTELPRO operation.  In addition to requiring the public release of COINTELPRO records within six months, Rush’s bill would also remove J. Edgar Hoover’s name from the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.  Hoover, who led the FBI from 1924-1972, was the lead public official who devised and carried out the COINTELPRO operation.

“It is high time that the American people know about the odious and inhumane legacy of J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO operation and its assault on our nation’s civil liberties.  This exceptionally important legislation goes to the crux of power, law, and the pervasive counterintelligence program conducted against American citizens.

“COINTELPRO was spying on American citizens.  Anyone who took a political position against the status quo, anyone who wanted to make America better was subject to being penalized, investigated — and in the case of my friend Fred Hampton, assassinated — by the official legal arm of the federal government.

“As a victim of COINTELPRO, I want to know, with honesty, with clarity, and with no redactions, the full extent of the FBI’s nefarious operations.  I want to know the breadth and depth of the conspiracy to assassinate Fred Hampton and how taxpayer dollars were spent on his assassination.  I want to know why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a focus of the FBI, why Billie Holiday was a focus of the FBI — I want to know why so many young activists were harassed by the FBI.  What was the justification for the impact that it had on their lives? 

“Finally, it is beyond time for J. Edgar Hoover, who has a clear legacy as the number one assailant on America’s constitutional guarantees for its citizens, to have his name is removed from the FBI headquarters.

“I want to shine a bright light on this dark chapter of our nation’s history.  And I think it is very timely and very important that we do it at this moment,” said Rush.

The extensive spying and chicanery of the COINTELPRO operation only came to light — to the limited extent that we understand its operations today — because of a 1971 burglary of an FBI field office and a more recent wrongful death civil suit.  However, much about COINTELPRO remains unknown due to the public’s inability to view files related to the operation, which are currently in the possession of government agencies including the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI. 

Rush’s bill would require government agencies including the FBI and the DOJ to release records related to COINTELPRO so that the public can determine and understand the full extent of the FBI’s monitoring of American citizens and its assault on Americans’ legal and constitutional protections. 

The bill specifies that six months after enactment of the law, any file related to COINTELPRO operation must be released and made fully public.  If an agency or branch believes that the release of a particular file is clearly and demonstrably expected to cause harm, that agency or branch must release portions of the file, a substitute of the file that conveys the necessary information, or a summary of the file.  This bill would also establish the COINTELPRO Records Review Board, which would be empowered to review determinations by government offices that do not fully disclose their records after six months, as required by the bill.  The Review Board would be comprised of outside experts in history and legal issues who would make a recommendation to the President regarding whether files that have been only partially disclosed should be fully released. 

Twenty-five years after the enactment of the bill into law, if an agency or branch still wishes to block the full release of a file, they must provide written justification explaining why the file falls within a very limited set of exemptions specified in Congressman Rush’s legislation, for example, that it would cause identifiable damage to America’s national security or intelligence operations.  This explanation would go to the Archivist of the United States as well as a senior official in the relevant branch or chamber, who could then decide to overrule the agency’s decision and release the full file. 

The text of Rush’s legislation is available HERE.

In March, Rush led his colleagues in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting the release of unclassified and unredacted versions of DOJ and FBI files related to the assassination of Fred Hampton.

Sunday, February 21, 2021

New evidence in Malcolm X assassination points to possible conspiracy

Fifty-six years after the death of Malcolm X, lawyers revealed what they called new evidence of a conspiracy, perpetrated by the NYPD and the FBI to assassinate the Civil Rights activist in Harlem.

Ray Wood was an undercover police officer at the time - his family and their attorney now claim Wood wrote a letter on his deathbed confessing the NYPD and the FBI conspired to kill the Civil Rights activist.

Watch more on thi story below:

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Package bombings targeting African Americans in Austin Texas

Package bombs that killed a teenager and wounded two women Monday in Austin are probably linked to a similar bombing that killed a man in the city earlier this month, authorities said, and investigators are considering whether race was a factor because all of the victims were minorities.

The first of Monday’s attacks killed a 17-year-old boy and wounded a 40-year-old woman, both whom were black. As police Chief Brian Manley held a news conference to discuss that blast, officers were called to the scene of another explosion that badly injured a 75-year-old Hispanic woman. She was taken to a hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries.

Authorities suspect that both of Monday’s blasts are linked to a March 2 attack that killed a 39-year-old black man, and they urged the public to call police if they receive any unexpected packages.

The three explosions occurred in different parts of Austin. Monday’s first explosion happened at a home near the city’s Windsor Park neighborhood and about 12 miles from the home where the March 2 package bomb killed 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House. His death was initially investigated as suspicious, but is now viewed as a homicide.

Monday’s second explosion happened in the Montopolis neighborhood, near the airport and about five miles south of the day’s first blast.

In at least the first two blasts, the packages were left overnight on the victims’ doorsteps and were not mailed or sent by a delivery service. He said neither the U.S. Postal Service nor private carriers such as UPS or FedEx have any record of delivering the package to the home, where Monday’s explosion occurred.

“There are similarities that we cannot rule out that these two items are, in fact, related,” Manley said.

Investigators have not determined a motive for the attacks, but it is possible that the victims could have been targeted because of their race, he said.

“We don’t know what the motive behind these may be,” Manley said. “We do know that both of the homes that were the recipients of these packages belong to African-Americans, so we cannot rule out that hate crime is at the core of this.”

Special Agent Michelle Lee, a San Antonio-based spokesman for the FBI, said the agency responded to both events and was assisting Austin police, who were leading the local investigation. She said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was leading the federal investigation.

[SOURCE: KOCO NEWS]



Monday, February 19, 2018

Sen. Tim Scott says Russia investigation, Fla. school shooter tips are "separate issues"

Trump is falsely trying to make the claim that if the FBI spent less time on Russia and more time on following up the tips on the shooter in Parkland Florida that maybe they could have stopped that shooting. Trump leaves out the fact that over 35,000 men and women serve in the FBI and that they can probably handle more than one investigation at a time. He also ignores the fact that tips about the shooter would have been dealt with by the local field office, not by those handling the Russia investigation.

Even fellow republicans such as Sen. Tim Scott have stepped in to say that the two investigations are two separate issues.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, says the reality is that they are "two separate issues." "I think we have to separate the issue, without any question," Scott told CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

We, the system, have not done the right job," said Scott, pointing to shortcomings in law enforcement's ability to prevent the Charleston and Texas church shootings.

"What we've seen in three major atrocities is that the system that was in place simply was not followed. So my focus is not on having or not having a gun debate. We're going to have that," said Scott. "But the reality of it is that three incidents could have been avoided, prevented, if the system itself had worked."

Scott noted, however, that he was hopeful Congress would "get something done this year" with regard to bringing bipartisan gun legislation to the Senate floor.

"The reality of it is that we have a sense of urgency about getting this done. And I'm very hopeful that this is the time that we see this nation's leadership united to solve a problem that could've prevented atrocities," said Scott. [SOURCE]

Friday, December 29, 2017

Eric Holder: Trump DOJ comments both wrong and dangerous

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is not happy with President Trump for saying that he has the "absolute right" to do what he wants with the Department of Justice. Holder tweeted that Trump's comments were "wrong" and "dangerous." Read his full tweet below:

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Cory Booker Statement on Comey Firing

U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) issued the following statement in response to the firing of FBI Director James Comey.

“The President of the United States just fired the person who was investigating his campaign, which should set off alarm bells across the country. The last time a presidential firing raised this many questions, America was in the middle of the Watergate crisis.

“For months, I’ve been calling for an independent special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the US election. The need is even more urgent now.

“The Russians undermined our election. How exactly they were able to do that with so much success is a question we need to answer – to prevent a similar attack in the future and hold those responsible accountable. In order to give the American people full confidence in this investigation, it should be handled by an independent counsel who does not answer to President Trump.

“Past nominees to be FBI director have enjoyed broad bipartisan support for their confirmation. The next pick should be no exception.”

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Statement on Firing of FBI Director James Comey

The Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA-02), released the following statement on the Trump Administration’s firing of FBI Director James Comey:

"The out-of-the-blue ouster of FBI Director James Comey is more proof that we need an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate any and all ties between the Trump Administration and Russia.

“When the Attorney General, who supposedly recused himself from the Russia investigation after it was revealed that he lied under oath about conversations with Russians, recommends firing the only person at the Department of Justice leading that investigation, then there is no one at the Department who can be trusted to investigate. As Ranking Member Cummings has said, there is now a 'crisis of confidence' at the Department of Justice. This Administration can’t be trusted to investigate itself.

“The American people deserve to know the truth. I call on Republicans to put patriotism before party and join Democrats in creating an independent, bipartisan commission so we can get to the truth. If they don’t, then they’ll be aiding and abetting collusion and coverup.”

Sunday, March 05, 2017

Comey Asks DOJ to Reject Trump’s Wiretap Accusations against Obama

F.B.I. Director James Comey is no friend or hero to liberals/Democrats, but even he is calling nonsense on Trump's claims that President Obama had Trump Towers phone lines tapped. He's not doing it so much to help Obama but to cover the F.B.I.'s rear ends. Read more on this from Mediaite below:

F.B.I. Director James B. Comey has called on the Department of Justice to reject President Donald Trump‘s claims that Barack Obama, while in office, called for an illegal wiretap of Trump Towers during the 2016 Presidential election.

Comey has stated that the highly charged claim is false and must be corrected. In addition, Trump’s accusation implies that the F.B.I. would have broken the law should the allegations be true. Comey has also been working with the DOJ to knock down Trump’s claim as there is virtually no evidence.

A statement by the F.B.I. invalidating the president’s claims would be a huge blow to the office of the presidency, essentially putting the nation’s top law enforcement officials in a position where they could question the truthfulness of the nation’s highest government official.

Read more: Comey Asks DOJ to Reject Trump’s Wiretap Accusations

Monday, December 26, 2016

President Obama Signs 'Emmett Till Bill'



With only weeks left in office President Barack Obama signed the “Emmett Till Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016,” expanding the responsibilities of the Department of Justice and the FBI to investigate and prosecute criminal civil rights violations that occurred before 1980 and resulted in a death. Read a summary of the bill from the Congressional Research Service below.
Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act of 2016
(Sec. 2) This bill reauthorizes the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Emmett Till Act) and expands the responsibilities of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to include the investigation and prosecution of criminal civil rights statutes violations that occurred before 1980 and resulted in a death. (Currently, Emmett Till Act investigations are limited to violations that occurred before 1970.)
The bill expresses the sense of Congress that all authorities with jurisdiction should: (1) meet regularly with civil rights organizations, institutions of higher education, and DOJ-designated entities to coordinate information sharing and discuss the status of DOJ's Emmett Till Act work; (2) support the full accounting of all victims whose deaths or disappearances were the result of racially motivated crimes; (3) hold accountable under federal and state law individuals who were perpetrators of, or accomplices in, unsolved civil rights murders and disappearances; (4) keep families regularly informed about the status of the investigations; and (5) expeditiously comply with Freedom of Information Act requests and develop a singular, publicly accessible repository of these disclosed documents.
In investigating a complaint, DOJ may coordinate activities with entities that DOJ determines to be appropriate.
DOJ may reopen and review cases closed without an in-person investigation conducted by DOJ or the FBI.
DOJ must hold meetings with the Civil Rights Division, the FBI, the Community Relations Service, civil rights organizations, institutions of higher education, DOJ-designated entities, and state and local law enforcement to discuss the status of its Emmett Till Act work.
In an annual report to Congress, DOJ must indicate:
  • the number of cases referred by a civil rights organization, an institution of higher education, or a state or local law enforcement agency;
  • the number of such cases that resulted in federal charges;
  • the date any such charges were filed;
  • whether DOJ has declined to prosecute or participate in an investigation of a referred case;
  • the outreach, collaboration, and support for investigations and prosecutions of violations of criminal civil rights statutes, including murders and disappearances; and
  • any activity on reopened cases.
The Community Relations Service must provide technical assistance by bringing together law enforcement agencies and communities to address tensions raised by civil rights era crimes.

Thursday, July 07, 2016

Elijah Cummings Ask FBI Director To Do Something About Police Killings

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) made a surprisingly personal plea to FBI director James Comey to do more to break the pattern of police officers killing black men. Watch his plea below.













Sunday, October 25, 2015

FBI to help Florida sheriff probe police shooting of black musician

The Florida sheriff investigating a plainclothes police officer's fatal shooting of a black musician asked for federal assistance on Friday to "ensure the highest level of scrutiny and impartiality."

The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, facing public criticism for its handling of prior officer-involved shootings, said in a statement that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had accepted the request in the case of Corey Jones, a 31-year-old drummer who was shot early Sunday.

It said the decision was made "to provide the family of Corey Jones and the community with a thorough and accurate investigation."

Local politicians and activists say the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office has lost the public's trust and that the FBI was already looking into one 2013 incident.

Read more: FBI to help Florida sheriff probe police shooting of black musician

Thursday, November 13, 2014

The suicide letter sent to MLK by the FBI.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was called “an evil, abnormal beast” in an anonymous letter FBI agents sent the civil rights leader in 1964 in an effort to get him to commit suicide, a newly published, unredacted version of the note, shows. Readvthe letter below. Click the letter to enlarge.

Monday, May 05, 2014

Holder Offers FBI Assistance In Search For Kidnapped Nigerian Girls

Attorney General Eric Holder has reportedly offered to send agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an effort to assist the Nigerian government after a terrorist group kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls nearly 3 weeks ago, according to The Huffington Post.

The reports of a step-up in assistance comes after Holder announced that the United States would assist in intelligence gathering as the search for the girls continued.