Security News in Brief: Justice Department Settles with New Jersey-Based IT Consulting Company to Resolve Immigration-Related Discrimination Claims

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Department of Justice announced today that it reached a settlement with Quantum Integrators Group (Quantum), an IT consulting and staffing company based in New Jersey. The settlement resolves claims that Quantum (1) discriminated against a lawful permanent resident by requiring her, based on her citizenship status, to provide unnecessary documentation before it would refer her for an employment opportunity, and (2) routinely required other work-authorized non-U.S. citizens to present unnecessary documents to prove their eligibility to work.

Omaha Man Arrested for Actions at U.S. Capitol

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

On Monday, January 25, 2021, agents from the FBI Omaha Field Office arrested Brandon Straka on a federal warrant related to events at the Capitol Building on January 6. Straka, of Omaha, faces the following federal charges:

  1. impeding law enforcement officer during civil disorder
  2. knowingly entering and remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority and/or engaging in disorderly conduct within proximity to a restricted building to impede official functions
  3. engaging in disorderly conduct with intent to disturb a hearing before Congress

Straka remains in federal custody. His initial appearance in federal court will be tomorrow, January 26, 2021. After his appearance you will find additional information on his case at this link Investigations Regarding Violence at the Capitol (justice.gov)

FBI Seeks Information on Yakama Reservation Shootings of Two Juveniles

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

SEATTLE, WA—The FBI’s Seattle Field Office is seeking information regarding two shootings that occurred on the evening of December 13 at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Two juveniles were shot multiple times in the White Swan area of the Yakama reservation. Both were hospitalized with serious injuries. The FBI is requesting anyone with information about the shootings to call, and information can be left anonymously. The subjects are still at large.

Anyone with information regarding these incidents should contact the FBI’s Seattle Field Office at 206-622-0460 or tips.fbi.gov.

Brian Dugan Named Special Agent in Charge of the Norfolk Field Office

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

Director Christopher Wray has named Brian Dugan as the special agent in charge of the Norfolk Field Office in Virginia. Most recently, Mr. Dugan served as section chief of the HUMINT Operations Section in the Directorate of Intelligence at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Dugan joined the FBI as a special agent in 1998 and was first assigned to the San Diego Field Office to mostly work domestic terrorism cases. In 1999, he transferred to the San Francisco Field Office to conduct gang investigations.

In 2006, Mr. Dugan was appointed as an instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, where he developed new law enforcement and human intelligence courses for the FBI. He left the Academy in 2009 to work on a violent gang squad in the Northern Virginia Resident Agency of the Washington Field Office.

Mr. Dugan was promoted to supervisory special agent and transferred to the Chicago Field Office in 2013 to lead a squad investigating child pornography and human trafficking. While in Chicago, he established a new gang squad addressing gun and gang violence on the North Side. He was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of a counterintelligence branch at the Washington Field Office in 2017. His branch investigated—and helped successfully prosecute—several espionage subjects and ran counterproliferation operations.

In 2019, Mr. Dugan was promoted to section chief in the Directorate of Intelligence, which has authority and responsibility for all FBI intelligence functions.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Dugan served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and rose to captain and served in Japan, Korea, and Russia. He earned a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Business Administration from Touro University of California.

FBI Seeks Public’s Help in Locating Missing Laredo Man

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

LAREDO, TX—The Federal Bureau of Investigation San Antonio Division, Laredo Resident Agency Office, is seeking information from the public about a man who went to Mexico to visit relatives and has not been seen since.

Francisco Javier Villarreal is a 31-year-old U.S. citizen who is approximately 5’4” in height and approximately 140 pounds. He has brown eyes and brown hair but is known to shave his head, so may have been bald when he went missing. Villarreal was doing personal training and was planning on opening a business. He also has multiple tattoos on his neck, chest, and right forearm and was last seen wearing an all-black athletic track suit.

Prior to his disappearance on December 11, 2020, he had been staying at a local hotel in the Reforma area in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and had been driving his white 2013 Volkswagon Beetle (License Plate Nuevo Leon SDG-461-A) to a nearby business.

Although the whereabouts of Villarreal are unknown at this time, it is believed he may still be in Mexico and may be the victim of a kidnapping.

The public is urged to call FBI San Antonio Division at 210-225-6741 with any information. Tips can also be submitted online at https://tips.fbi.gov. Individuals who provide information may remain anonymous.