Rep. Sensenbrenner

The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) on Thursday denounced  Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner’s proposal to eliminate ATF and have it absorbed by another agency.

President Johnson

As violence against black people continued after signing the Civil Rights Act in July 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson turned to the FBI for help.

The New York Times reports that Johnson urged then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to open the first office dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Americans.

The FBI on Thursday celebrated the 50th anniversary of the opening.

Officials and civil rights leaders said a lot has changed in the bureau since then.

“We saw the F.B.I. only as an institution set to keep people of color down,” said Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of Medgar Evers, the Mississippi civil rights leader killed the summer before the office opened said. “One that was not a friend, but one that was a foe. And I stand before you today saying that I am proud to say I see the F.B.I. as playing the role they did, and finally in my mind, and my heart reaching the point where I can say, friend.”

Steve Neavling

The search for a future FBI headquarters should soon be narrowed down to a short list, the Washington Post reports.

Communities and politicians in Virginia and Maryland are watching closely as the FBI looks to build the largest new federal campus in more than 50 years.

Once the list is narrowed down to finalists, the developers will be invited to submit proposals to build the headquarters, the New York Times wrote.

The FBI is looking to build 2.1 million-square-foot campus that must be within 2.5 miles of the Beltway and two miles of a Metro station.

The federal government expects to choose the final location late next year.

Steve Neavling

Friends of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev knew he had materials to build a bomb, an FBI agent testified Thursday, WBUR reports.

The testimony of FBI agent Farbod Azad came during the obstruction trial of Azamat Tazhayakov, who is accused of interfering with the investigation along with two other friends.

The three friends went to Tsarnaev’s dorm room after the bombing and are accused of removing a backpack with fireworks and a laptop.

According to Azad, Tazhayakov told him that one of his friend’s found a bottle of Vaseline and mouthed the words, “He used this to make the bombs.”

Tazhayakov insists he’s innocent.

Steve Neavling

Border Patrol’s plan to alleviate the surge of Central American immigrants along the border of Mexico no longer involves flying children and families to San Diego, the USA Today reports.

The federal agency halted the experiment following a protest that blocked busloads of immigrants from reaching a processing facility in San Diego.

Border Patrol said the protest had nothing to do with the halt of plans and indicated the backlog of immigrants being held in Texas is decreasing.

The U.S. lacks sufficient family detention centers for immigrants, according to the USA Today.

It’s unclear how many flights to San Diego occurred before the transportation was stopped.

Steve Neavling

ICE and Border Patrol are set to run out of money if Congress doesn’t approve a $3.7 billion request for emergency funds from President Obama, the Arizona Republic reports.

ICE expects to run out of money by mid-August, while Border Patrol said it could be penniless by mid-September.

Both agencies blame the border crisis on the funding shortage.

The new budget year begins Oct. 1.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson  told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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