FBI Director: Number of Islamic State Cases in US Has Not Dropped Off
by
Wcbm
“FBI director: Number of IS cases in US has not dropped off,” by Amy Forliti, Associated Press, June 7, 2016 (thanks to Lookmann):
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) — The director of the FBI said Tuesday that the Islamic State group is currently the main threat facing the United States, both in its efforts to recruit fighters to join its members overseas and to have others carry out violence in America.
Director James Comey said the IS group poses a third potential threat: a “terrorist diaspora” that he said will eventually flow out of Syria and Iraq and end up in Western Europe, where members will have easy access to the U.S.
“There’s three prongs to this ISIL threat,” Comey said. “The recruitment to travel, the recruitment to violence in place, and then what you saw a preview of in Brussels and in Paris – hardened fighters coming out, looking to kill people.”
He said officials are “laser-focused on that.”
Comey took questions from reporters Tuesday in the FBI’s Minneapolis office as part of a two-day visit to the region that included meetings with community leaders and local law enforcement….
Comey said the FBI is continuing to focus on the Islamic State group, and there areclose to 1,000 open cases nationwide involving people at various stages of recruitment. He said the group’s slick videos and propaganda can resonate with people of all ages, but seem to draw in people under 30 who are “unmoored” in some way.
