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Remembering 9/11
FBI Has Evolved in Response to Changing Threats
This weekend, the FBI joins the nation in remembering and honoring the
victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, which occurred 15 years ago this
month.
It was then that the Bureau began the most massive investigation in its
history, after terrorists hijacked and crashed four commercial
airliners—two at the World Trade Center in New York, one at the
Pentagon, and one in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania—killing 33
crew members, 213 passengers, and 2,730 people on the ground. Thousands
more were injured.
Since the attacks of 9/11, the FBI has transformed from a reactive,
investigative-led model to a proactive, intelligence-driven one where
intelligence informs our investigative strategies, enhances our
understanding of terrorism threats, and increases our ability to
address and mitigate these threats. The terrorism threats against the
U.S. have evolved since 2001, but they remain, according to Director
James Comey, “persistent and acute,” especially those posed by
individuals who are recruited domestically and travel abroad to join
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and by homegrown
violent extremists who may aspire to attack the United States from
within.
In response to these evolving threats, the FBI uses all lawful
investigative techniques and methods at its disposal. With our domestic
and foreign partners, the Bureau collects and analyzes intelligence
information as it pertains to foreign terrorist organizations and
homegrown violent extremists. We also encourage information sharing,
working closely with the many federal, state, local, and tribal
agencies assigned to our Joint Terrorism Task Forces around the country.
“Rest assured,” said Comey, speaking before a congressional committee
earlier this year, “the FBI continues to strive to work and share
information more efficiently and to pursue technological and other
methods to help stay ahead of threats to the homeland.”
The Bureau also strives, on a daily basis, to ensure the safety of the
American public from the threat of terrorism and other crimes while
safeguarding citizens’ constitutional rights.
After planes crashed in New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11,
2001, employees at the Pittsburgh FBI weren't sure where to respond.
Then news came of a fourth plane--United Flight 93--heading their way.
“The FBI continues to strive to work and share information more
efficiently and to pursue technological and other methods to help stay
ahead of threats to the homeland.”
Remembering 9/11: In Their Own Words:
Special agents who worked on investigations and recovery efforts at the
World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania,
recalled their experiences in interviews conducted in the decade after
the 9/11 attacks.
Pentagon
World Trade Center
Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Get videos and other commentary at Remembering 9/11-FBI
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