Week Two At Citizens' FBI Academy

The three topics of discussion at FBI Academy this week were: Civil Rights, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Counter Intelligence.

Civil Rights

The Department of Justice with the FBI as its chief investigatory arm can prosecute civil rights violations in a variety of areas.

The first would be hate crimes. Force used against anyone because of their race, national origin or religion falls under the category of a hate crime.

Following the Matthew Shepard case, hate crimes were further defined as the use
of force against someone because of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity of disability. It is sometimes challenging to prosecute these offenses, but no one can interfere with your right to an education, be a juror, seek employment, participate in a state or federal program, use a public park, travel, or visit a place of public accommodation. The right to housing is included in this as well. Cross burning or the use of a noose on someone’s property are court tested and clear indications of a hate crime.

The DOJ can also prosecute under what is called the “color of law” anyone who deprives someone of due process. A classic example of this would be the Rodney King case. Other than the obvious police brutality was the fact that Mr. King was deprived of timely medical care which was part of his due process. The Justice Department will defer to state prosecutors in cases like this, but in the event of an acquittal or too light of a sentence will step in and file their own charges.

Also falling under civil rights violations is human trafficking. This means labor was obtained through prohibited means. Victims of this are usually from third world countries. They were lured here with the promise of work and most likely had to pay for the opportunity to come. Once here, the jobs don’t pay as promised and more money is demanded by the people who brought them here. If the money isn’t paid, they are threatened with being turned over to the immigration authorities. Because of deportation fears, it is difficult to get co-operation from victims of this.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

What can you say about weapons of mass destruction that isn’t totally chilling? Weapons can be nuclear, chemical or biological. The risks our part of the country face are related to a number of things. We have nuclear weapons in silos in Minot, nuclear power plants, an agrarian economy that uses lots of chemicals, advanced research done at our local universities, and substantial radiological resources. All of these are potential sources for weaponry of some sort.  The FBI has the “Tripwire Program” which is a collaborative working relationship with local businesses that would sound an alarm if too much of a certain type of chemical is being purchased or there is a pattern of buying certain types of equipment that looks out of the norm. A growing concern is the re-engineering of the DNA of viruses and bacteria which would make them easier to deliver and virtually untreatable.

The FBI spends a lot of time investigating what end up being hoaxes of some sort, but it can’t afford to ignore any of the threats. There is at least one case of attempt to poison with Ricin annually and nuclear grade material is being smuggled constantly.

Counter Intelligence

The need for excellent counter intelligence has become imperative with 104 known countries seeking intelligence in the United States. Our three state area that the FBI covers has 100 defense contractors.

Protecting industrial trade secrets has been equally challenging. Educating
companies on how to prevent and identify spying has become a full time job. Most recently here in Minnesota, Valspar paints was a target. David Yen Lee gained access to 160 secret formulas for Valspar’s paint and coating. He was at the airport ready to board his plane to flee the country when he was arrested by the FBI. Interestingly, spying used to be a far more formal affair. It seems everyone knew whom each other’s operatives were and they were easier to watch.

Nowadays spying occurs at much lower levels and can involve not only students
but employers who are doing joint ventures with a foreign country. As with
everything else the FBI involves itself with, regular people with eyes and ears
are the first line of defense against this.