FBI MISSED CHANCES TO STOP DOMESTIC TERROR ATTACKS
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/4/fbi-missed-chances-stop-domestic-terror-attacks-be/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_campaign=pushnotify&utm_medium=push
The FBI missed opportunities to stop domestic terrorists from killing Americans because field offices failed to further investigate individuals who had been labeled homegrown violent extremists, the Justice Department watchdog said in a scathing report released Wednesday.
At least six terrorists who later carried out attacks killing a total of 70 people were on the FBI’s radar prior to the attacks. However, the agents quickly closed the cases, concluding the suspects were not threats to national security, according to the Justice Department inspector general.
Among the more high-profile individuals the FBI failed to recognize as a potential source of terrorism were Omar Mateen, who killed 49 individuals at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016, Nidal Hasan, who massacred 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, and Esteban Santiago, who killed five people in a 2017 terror attack at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz said the FBI’s counterterrorism program division managers failed to conduct consistent oversight of its homegrown violent extremist assessments, allowing potential terrorists to fall through the cracks.
Roughly 40 percent of the FBI’s counterterrorism assessments went unaddressed for 18 months, even after bureau officials discovered investigative lapses, Mr. Horowitz wrote.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz said the FBI’s counterterrorism program division managers failed to conduct consistent oversight of its homegrown violent extremist assessments, allowing potential terrorists to fall through the cracks.
Roughly 40 percent of the FBI’s counterterrorism assessments went unaddressed for 18 months, even after bureau officials discovered investigative lapses, Mr. Horowitz wrote.
“The FBI has acknowledged that various weaknesses related to its assessment process may have impacted its ability to fully investigate certain counterterrorism assessment subjects, who later committed terrorist acts in the United States,” the inspector general wrote.
Lapses by FBI agents included failing to investigate Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the individuals who carried out the 2013 Boston Marathon terror attack, even after he was flagged by an internal bureau database. Instead, the probe was closed and Tsarnaev was determined to “have no nexus to terrorism,” according to the report.
Agents similarly bungled the case of Elton Simpson, who tried to ambush a Garland, Texas, art exhibit featuring cartoon images of Muhammad, the chief prophet and central figure of the Islamic religion, the report said. Although agents received threat information related to Simpson, agents did not interpret the data as a “significant threat,” according to the report.
Even after the FBI conducted internal reviews after those attacks to figure out where it went wrong, agents didn’t follow proposed improvements.
Roughly one year after the FBI implemented new procedures, two field offices still had not taken the recommended actions, the report said.
“As a result, potential terrorist threats were not mitigated more than one year,” Mr. Horowitz wrote.
The inspector general offered seven recommendations for the FBI to develop a “comprehensive strategy” for investigating terror suspects and keeping agents up to date on those techniques
Recommendations including implementing guidelines from a 2017 internal bureau review of its Guardian threat-assessment system, providing clear guidance to field offices on investigative steps, and establishing a plan to assess threats who have mental health concerns.
In a response to the inspector general’s report, an FBI official said the bureau agrees with the recommendations.
“We agree it is important to continue to improve the assessment process, provide adequate guidance, training and program management for all Guardians and those specifically addressing homegrown violent extremists,” wrote Suzanne Turner, an FBI section chief in the inspection division. “In that regard we concur with the seven recommendations for the FBI.”
The inspector general’s report is the latest black eye for the bureau, which has been besieged by allegations of political taint and questions of competence.
The FBI admitted last year that it ignored a tip that Nikolas Cruz, accused in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting, had signaled an attack before 17 people were killed at the school in Parkland, Florida. Mr. Cruz was not named in the inspector general’s report released Wednesday.
Also, an agent pleaded guilty to assault charges last year after his gun went off while he was dancing at a Denver nightclub and wounded a bystander, and 16 women have sued the bureau, alleging sexual harassment and discrimination at its training academy.
The bureau is still reeling from damning reports from the inspector general. Last year, Mr. Horowitz concluded former FBI Director James B. Comey violated bureau policy by leaking confidential memos.
Mr. Horowitz discovered in a separate report more than 17 mistakes and omissions in the FBI’s application to wiretap former Trump campaign figure Carter Page. FBI officials were found to have ignored procedures, withheld exculpatory evidence and even doctored evidence to obtain the warrant.
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