fbi

Zoya Mirza 2-09-2022

Screenshot from Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker’s testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security. Cytron-Walker — who led the Texas synagogue hostages to safety last month — told Congress there is a need for increased funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

The rabbi who led hostages to safety during an attack on his Texas synagogue last month said federally funded security training “gave [him] the courage to act.” Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker urged Congress to increase federal funding for a program that would help other religious leaders prepare for such assaults.

Ed Spivey Jr. 1-28-2019

Ken Davis

ONE OF THE disadvantages of living a long life is that you forget much of it. Parts of the past are a closed book to a deteriorating memory, although I do remember every single embarrassing moment when I should have kept my mouth shut but didn’t, falsely thinking at the time that a clever remark about, say, a person’s lamentable haircut would be both humorous and instructive, and generally enjoyed by all. Unfortunately, those excruciating social misdemeanors number, at last count, in the millions and lay in the forefront of my consciousness while other more important things—such as, what 8 times 7 equals—I have long forgotten. It’s the normal consequence of aging, but these days what you don’t remember could hurt you.

For example, have I ever lied to Robert Mueller?

I’VE NEVER MET Robert Mueller, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never been in the same room with the man. But I can’t be certain.

Unlike our president, I’ve never made payments to an adult film actress or Playboy playmate. But does memory really serve? I admit I have seen Playboy magazine, the first time when I was 12, well before the age of consent and possibly in violation of local morality laws at the time. But copies were just lying on the little table in the barbershop, and since I had already read the old issues of Field & Stream, I decided to leaf through a different publication.

Instead of seizing it from my fingers, quelling my innocent curiosity, and using the moment to teach an important life lesson about the clear demarcations of youth, the barbers just giggled.

Anyway, a young Robert Mueller wasn’t there at the time, observing with a stern eye, carefully documenting my actions for use in future judicial proceedings. At least, I don’t think he was. But can I really be sure?

Martin E. Marty 12-05-2017

Image via Lorie Shaull / Flickr

If you were of age in 1993, you don’t need to be reminded who the Branch Davidians were and what the Federal Bureau of Investigation did to them on April 19th of that year.

For newcomers to the scene, these “Davidians” were well-known for their extremist activities in Waco, Texas. They were a typical “cult” during a decade in which intense and isolated religious groups were a threat to their neighbors, the relatives of their members, and the public at large. In that April incident, the FBI, urged by public opinion, set out to discipline them and prevent them from creating public disturbances. Yet, create a disturbance they did.

Reuters 6-08-2017

James Comey testifies before the House Intelligence Committee hearing into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election March 20. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

Comey is scheduled to testify at 10 a.m. on Thursday as part of the committee's investigation into U.S. intelligence agency allegations that Russia tried to interfere with the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion by President Donald Trump's campaign. Russia has denied the allegations and Trump denies any collusion.

FILE PHOTO: President Donald Trump (L) in the House of Representatives on Feb. 28, 2017 and FBI Director James Comey in Washington U.S. on July 7, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool, Gary Cameron/File Photo

The anger behind Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday had been building for months, but a turning point came when Comey refused to preview for top Trump aides his planned testimony to a Senate panel, White House officials said. Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had wanted a heads-up from Comey about what he would say at a May 3 hearing about his handling of an investigation into former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

FILE PHOTO: FBI Director James Comey waits to speak at the Boston Conference on Cyber Security at Boston College. March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey followed a turbulent year for Comey in which he became embroiled in controversy over his handling of investigations involving both Trump and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Here is a timeline of the events that preceded Comey's firing and Trump's reaction to them.

the Web Editors 5-09-2017

Image via Brookings Institution/Flickr

Midway into an FBI investigation into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, President Trump has fired FBI director James Comey.

Image via RNS/Reuters/Jim Bourg

A New Jersey teen pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to terrorists, in what media called an ISIS-inspired effort to kill Pope Francis in 2015 during a public Mass in Philadelphia, according to a statement by federal prosecutors.

Image via RNS

Enrollment has dropped at more than a quarter of Jewish Community Center preschools since a wave of threats against JCCs began in early January.

“I’m starting with the most difficult news, which is simply that more JCCs indicated something of a decline — but the majority have not,” said David Posner of the Jewish Community Center Association of North America, sharing the results of the umbrella group’s latest member survey.

Image via RNS/Anti-Defamation League

At least 16 Jewish community centers received bomb threats on Jan. 9, in an apparent attempt to rattle American Jews, who have seen a spike in anti-Semitism incidents in the past year.

The threats — some by live callers, some by robocall — were made to JCCs in Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Tennessee, South Carolina, and at least four other states.

Image via RNS/Sai Mokhtari/Gothamist

Melissa Grajek was subjected to all kinds of taunts for wearing the hijab, but an incident at San Marcos’ (Calif.) Discovery Lake sealed the deal.

Her 1-year-old son was playing with another boy when an irate father saw her and whisked his son away, telling Grajek: “I can’t wait until Trump is president, because he’ll send you back to where you came from.”

The man then scooped up a handful of wood chips and threw them at Grajek’s son.

Image via RNS/Reuters/Brittany Greeson

The American Civil Liberties Union collected more than $11 million and 150,000 new members. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Twitter account gained 9,000 followers. And the Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism and other bigotries, saw donations increase fiftyfold.

In the days since Donald Trump won the presidency, these spikes, in support for groups that defend religious and other minorities, speak to a fear that the president-elect will trample on their rights — or at least empower those who would.

the Web Editors 10-28-2016

Image via Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com

On Oct. 28, in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI director James Comey announced that the FBI will investigate newly discovered Hillary Clinton emails, reports NBC News

Image via a katz/Shutterstock.com

A report released on Oct. 19 by the Anti-Defamation League does not directly indict Trump for this upswing in anti-Semitism. But it explicitly connects some of his supporters to the hate speech.

“The spike in hate we’ve seen online this election season is extremely troubling and unlike anything we have seen in modern politics,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.

9-19-2016

Image via RNS/Reuters/Eric Miller

A man who wounded eight people in a knife attack at a mall in central Minnesota before he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer is a “soldier of theIslamic State,” the militant group’s news agency said.

The man, who was wearing a private security uniform, made references to Allah and asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them at the Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud on Sept. 17, the city’s Police Chief William Blair Anderson told reporters.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of the claim made byIslamic State through the group’s affiliated Amaq news agency.

the Web Editors 7-05-2016

Although the FBI found no clear evidence that she intended to violate the law, FBI Director James Comey said Clinton and her staff were "extremely careless" in their handling of classified information.

the Web Editors 4-08-2016

1. Top 10 Takeaways from ‘Amoris Laetitia’

“We should no longer talk about people “living in sin.” A great analysis of Pope Francis’ new document on the family from America magazine.

2. Keystone Pipeline Leak Worse Than Believed

According to TransCanada, the pipeline could have leaked nearly 17,000 gallons in South Dakota — and they’ve “yet to pinpoint the source.”

3. WATCH: 7 Reasons Men Should Not Be Pastors

This must’ve struck a nerve. It’s the most-viewed thing we’ve ever done!

the Web Editors 2-17-2016

Image via /Shutterstock.com

There are two things that make this order very dangerous, Opsahl said. The first is the question it raises about who can make this type of demand. If the U.S. government can force Apple to do this, why can't the Chinese or Russian governments? The second is that while the government is requesting a program to allow it to break into this one, specific iPhone, once the program is created it will essentially be a master key. 

ISIS flag hangs in Palestinian refugee camp. Image via REUTERS/Ali Hashisho/RNS

The wife of a now-deceased Islamic State leader has been charged for her alleged role in last year’s death of American aid worker Kayla Jean Mueller. Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar, 25, the widow of former ISIS leader Abu Sayyaf, allegedly conspired to provide support to the terrorist group, often forcibly holding Mueller in the couple’s homes where she was subjected to repeated sexual abuse by ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Mueller died in February 2015.

Ted Sherman 10-11-2013

Yeshiva Shaarei Torah of Rockland on 91 West Carlton Road in Suffern, NY. Photo via RNS, by Tim Farrell/courtesy The Star-Ledger

In a bizarre case involving threats of kidnapping, beatings, and physical torture — including the use of an electric cattle prod — two rabbis were charged in New Jersey in a scheme to force men to grant their wives religious divorces.

Two others were also charged in the case, which grew out of an undercover sting operation involving a female FBI agent who posed as a member of the Orthodox community seeking a divorce.

As many as six others may also be charged, officials said.