FBI is cutting its domestic terrorism unit in the US - Reuters
Kyiv • UNN
The FBI has cut staff in the domestic terrorism unit and stopped the practice of marking investigations. The Trump administration instructed FBI groups to assist in immigration measures.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has cut staff in the office that deals with domestic terrorism and abandoned a tool used to track such investigations. This was reported by Reuters, citing sources, writes UNN.
Details
According to five agency interlocutors, FBI employees are being transferred from the Internal Terrorist Operations Division. Two sources say about 16 people have been transferred. Another interlocutor said that the leadership discussed the complete dissolution of the department, although no final decision has yet been announced.
The FBI has also stopped the practice of labeling investigations related to domestic terrorism. The labels, the agency writes, were an important tool to help the service identify trends and track relevant cases across the country.
In addition, a Reuters memo shows that US President Donald Trump's administration has separately instructed FBI joint counter-terrorism task forces to assist in immigration measures.
Agency sources fear that these changes will reduce the FBI's ability to track threats from white supremacists and extremist groups. Some former officials, on the contrary, said that it is not unusual for the FBI to redistribute resources depending on changing threats.
The FBI did not directly respond to journalists' requests for comment on the changes, but said the agency is committed to "protecting the United States from a variety of threats, including terrorism, violent crime, drug trafficking and cyberattacks."
