Category: FBI

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

July 14, 2021

PSA pledges NYPD and FBI commitment to Asian New Yorkers: “We will help you”

Today, the NYPD and our FBI New York partners announced a joint public service announcement (PSA) to encourage the reporting of anti-Asian hate crimes and to stand in solidarity with the Asian community. The NYPD and FBI encourage all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, to report any bias or hate crime incident – and it will be vigorously investigated.

The PSA’s are spoken in English, Korean, Tagalog, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. They will be posted on the NYPD and FBI social media channels and disseminated across New York City communities. Leadership from the NYPD and FBI, as well as detectives and agents and former acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon Kim, participated in these videos to increase awareness of anti-Asian hate crimes and encourage New Yorkers from communities across the city to report any crime.

The NYPD and FBI need the help of all New Yorkers to bring justice to those that are victimized and so that the NYPD and FBI can hold perpetrators to account. Year-to-date as of July 11, 2021, as compared to last year, anti-Asian hate crimes have increased by 395% (104 v. 21).

“NYPD detectives work around the clock to prevent anti-Asian hate crimes from occurring, and vigorously investigate them if they do,” said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. “We need all New Yorkers to help to stop these hateful acts. We must continue to work together, with our federal partners and community members, to ensure safe communities for everyone. This public awareness campaign is another way we can reach New Yorkers and stop hate.”

“We each have a role to play to reverse the trends we’ve seen in New York City and beyond—let’s set the example,” said FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. “Pay attention to what’s going on around you and do what’s right. You may be surprised how big of a role you can play in keeping our communities safe.”

Below please find the videos released today as part of this public awareness campaign.

VIDEOS

PSA videos:

Asian Hate Crimes PSA

Asian Hate Crimes Video

Korean video 1: Asian Hate Video Korean (English Subtitles)

Korean video 2: Asian Hate Crime Korean Short Version (English Subtitles)

Tagalog video 1: Asian Hate Tagalog Video (Tagalog Subtitles)

Tagalog video 2: Asian Hate Crime Tagalog (English Subtitles)

Cantonese video 1: Asian Hate Crime Cantonese (English Subtitles)

Cantonese video 2: Asian Hate Crime Cantonese Short Version (English Subtitles)

Vietnamese video 1: Vietnamese Asian Hate Short Version (English Subtitles)

Vietnamese video 2: Vietnamese Asian Hate (English Subtitles)

Mandarin video 1: Asian Hate Crime Mandarin (English Subtitles)

Mandarin video 2: Asian Hate Crime Mandarin (English Subtitles) PSA 1

Mandarin video 3: Asian Hate Crime Mandarin (English Subtitles) PSA 2

Mandarin video 4: Asian Hate Crime Mandarin (English Subtitles) PSA 3

Mandarin video 5: Asian Hate Crime Mandarin (English Subtitles) PSA 4

Mandarin video 6: Asian Hate Crime Mandarin (English Subtitles) PSA 5

Police Commissioner Shea video 1: Police Commissioner Asian Hate Crimes

Police Commissioner Shea video 2: Police Commissioner Asian Hate Crimes PSA

Assistant Director in Charge (ADIC) Sweeney video 1: ADIC Sweeney video PSA

ADIC Sweeney video 2: ADIC Sweeney Hate Crime

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Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

The FBI is seeking the public’s assistance with obtaining identifying information regarding an unknown male who may have critical information pertaining to the identity of a child victim in an ongoing sexual exploitation investigation. Photographs and an informational poster depicting the unknown individual, known only as John Doe 44, are being disseminated to the public and can be found online.

Initial video of the unidentified male, John Doe 44, shown with a child, was first recorded by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in February 2021. The EXIF data embedded within the video files indicated that the files were produced prior to November 2018.

John Doe 44 is described as a white male with light brown hair and wearing a navy blue t-shirt. He is heard speaking English in the video. Due to the age of the images, it is possible that the individual’s appearance may have changed over the years.

Anyone with information to provide should submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov, or call the FBI’s toll-free tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). The public is reminded no charges have been filed in this case, and the pictured individual is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

This individual is being sought as part of the FBI’s Operation Rescue Me and Endangered Child Alert Program (ECAP) initiatives, both of which represent strategic partnerships between the FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Operation Rescue Me focuses on using clues obtained through in-depth image analysis to identify the child victims depicted in child exploitation material, while ECAP seeks national and international media exposure of unknown adults (referred to as John/Jane Does) who visibly display their faces and/or other distinguishing characteristics in association with child pornography images.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

The exponential growth was the result of the sudden expansion of FBI’s federal criminal jurisdiction since the court ruling on July 9, 2020, which reaffirmed the existence of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation. The landmark ruling, which determined that the U.S. government never disestablished the American Indian reservations there in the early days of Oklahoma’s statehood, reverted nearly 45% of the state back to Native American reservation land. That, in turn, transitioned criminal jurisdiction from the state back to the FBI.

The FBI investigates the most serious crimes in Indian Country, including murders, rapes, and child sexual abuse. In most of eastern Oklahoma, criminal cases that were handled by state and local authorities are now under federal jurisdiction—including closed cases that are being re-opened because of new questions about their jurisdiction. The expanded federal role has made the Oklahoma City Field Office one of the FBI’s busiest.

“The case volume that we are experiencing is unprecedented,” said Melissa Godbold, special agent in charge of the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office, which has borrowed special agents, intelligence analysts, victim specialists, and other professional staff from across the Bureau. Dozens of agents are on 90-day rotations to the region, working to ease the crush of cases and make sure criminals don’t slip through cracks during the transition. Victim specialists from around the country are on two-week deployments to Oklahoma City to ensure victims from cases old and new are tended to and provided resources the federal government is obliged to deliver.

‘It’s Our Every Day’

“The challenge for us is that we must provide this basic level of policing in the eastern half of Oklahoma, but we also have to ensure we are still doing all the things the American public expects the FBI to do,” said Godbold. “We’re investigating terrorism crimes, we’re going after spies, we’re making sure public corruption doesn’t go unpunished. So, it’s getting the base level of policing covered along with the top level of policing and making sure all of that happens at the same time.”

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

Judy Shepard, who with her husband, Dennis, co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation to honor their 21-year-old son who was killed in a hate crime in Wyoming in 1998, echoed the sentiment. She said that a better understanding of the gay community—and all marginalized communities—could lead to better communication and reporting.

“There’s a level of ignorance about how to operate in a community you’re unfamiliar with,” Judy Shepard said. “How the tendency may be to actually insult them rather than help them. There are nuances involved in all marginalized communities. All afternoon we’ve been talking about that. And I hope they recognize it, because it’s crucial to the victim’s family, and the victims themselves.”

These are the conversations the Civil Rights Unit hoped would be a starting point toward better understanding among the varied attendees. Ron Reed, chief of the Civil Rights Unit at FBI Headquarters, said giving local police better tools to investigate hate crimes—and a better understanding of federal laws—can pay dividends, even if it’s just learning how to talk to victims.

“It’s not the victim’s job to know what to tell us,” Reed said. “It’s our job as law enforcement to know the right questions to ask to get to the bottom of it.”

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

On the evening of Sunday, July 11, 2021, FBI agents, with the assistance of the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office and the Bozeman Yellowstone International Public Safety Office, made a probable cause arrest of Vincent Harry Kopacek, age 76, of Fredericksburg, Texas, on one federal count each of attempted sexual abuse of a minor, abusive sexual contact, and assault within maritime and territorial jurisdiction. Law enforcement detained Kopacek as he checked in for his flight departing the airport in Bozeman.

On July 8, 2021, Kopacek was seated behind a 15-year-old girl on a flight from Austin, Texas, to Bozeman. According to the criminal complaint and court documents, Kopacek inappropriately touched the minor female before and during the flight. The victim documented the alleged abuse with her cell phone. After departing the airport, the victim reported the alleged contact to her family, who alerted authorities.

Kopacek had an initial appearance this morning in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.