Wayne G. Davis

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Wayne G. Davis, a 25-year veteran of the FBI who served as special agent in charge of the Detroit, Indianapolis and Philadelphia field offices, died earlier this month.

Davis was 81.

Davis began his career with the bureau in 1963 after becoming one of the first African Americans to graduate from the FBI Academy. His first assignments were in Detroit, Newark and Washington, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

After leading the Indianapolis office for two years, Davis became the first Black person to serve as special agent in charge of the Detroit office in 1981.

In 1985, Davis was appointed to head the Philadelphia office.

“Wayne’s promotions to special agent in charge of the Detroit and Philadelphia offices made him one of the highest-ranking Black agents in a well-earned position of authority in the FBI,” Jerri Williams, who served as Davis’ media specialist in Philadelphia, wrote in a tribute. “Considering the times we are living in today, with tensions between the Black community and law enforcement, Wayne Davis’ life and career is something we can all celebrate.”

Davis was born in New York City, where he attended public school before earning a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Connecticut in 1960.

He is survived by his wife, Lois, and his daughters Adrienne and Cheryl, two grandchildren, and a brother.

Remembering former #FBIIndianapolis Special Agent in Charge Wayne Davis who passed away Friday. SAC Davis led the Indianapolis office from 1979 – 1981. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. https://t.co/pAaxjgTqeB

— FBI Indianapolis (@FBIIndianapolis) July 17, 2020

FBI Special Agent Emmerson Buie Jr. via Twitter.

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Emmerson Buie Jr. has become the first African American to serve as special agent in charge of the Chicago Field Office.

Buie, who most recently served as special agent in charge of the El Paso Office in Texas, joined the FBI in 1992, investigating criminal issues at the Colorado Springs Resident Agency of the Denver Field Office.

In 1999, Buie became supervisory special agent and worked in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Operations Unit in the Counterterrorism Division at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In 2002, Buie was promoted to senior supervisory resident agent at the Fairview Heights Resident Agency in Illinois.

In 2006, Buie was assigned to London, where he became the assistant and acting deputy legal attaché. He served as the primary contact for coordinating the FBI’s involvement in several international counterterrorism and anti-organized crime agencies.

In 2008, Buie was promoted to assistant special agent in charge of criminal matters and also handled national security and administrative issues in the Springfield Field Office. In addition, Buie was the office’s leadership development coordinator.

In 2014, Buie began serving as the Cyber Division’s senior liaison to the National Cybersecurity, Communication and Integration Center at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he helped coordinate public and private sector investigations and intelligence-sharing efforts between the FBI, DHS, and other agencies.

In 2017, he was named special agent in charge of the El Paso Field Office.

Before joining the FBI, Buie spent four years in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer and served in Desert Storm. His actions earned him a Bronze Star, Combat Infantry badge, and multiple accommodations and awards. Buie received a bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University.

(L-R) Mike Battle, Roscoe Howard, Patrick Miles

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Barnes & Thornburg, based in Indianapolis, is the first major law firm to have three former U. S. Attorneys  as partners who are African American.  The firm has 13 offices and is among the 100 largest in the U.S.

The former U.S. Attorneys include Mike Battle, who served in the Western District of New York (Buffalo) under President George W. Bush; Roscoe Howard who served in D.C. under Bush and Patrick Miles, who served in the the Western District of Michigan (Grand Rapids) under President Barack Obama.

Howard and Battle work in the D.C. office and Miles is based in Grand Rapids.

James Baldwin/Wikipedia

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

James Baldwin, a famous African American writer, was pursued for more than a decade by the FBI because of paranoia about his politics, according to a new biography, “All the Strangers” by Douglas Field.

Baldwin, who is best known for his novels, “Go Tell It On The Mountain” and “Another Country,” was pursued by the FBI during the era of illegal surveillance, The Intercept reports. 

Intercept writes:

Why did the FBI spy on Baldwin? He was a novelist, essayist and critic, one of the most distinguished writers and thinkers of his time. His skin was black, his sexuality fluid, and his politics tended toward the left, a combination that was enough to turn him into a target for the FBI.

Agents began spying on Baldwin in 1960 because of fears he was “connected to several Communist Party front groups.” His role in civil rights also caught the attention of the FBI.

Loretta Lynch

Making history doesn’t always come easy.

But that’s what Loretta Lynch did on Thursday, finally securing the Senate confirmation as the new Attorney General, the first African American to do so.

The five month battle played out, with some Republicans opposing her because of her view on immigration reform.

CNN reported that the vote was 56-43.

Ten Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, joined Democrats, CNN reported. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz was the only senator not to vote.

Steve Neavling

Arthur Lewis, the first African American acting deputy administrator of the DEA, rose to prominence after starting his career on the hardscrabble streets of Harlam as an undercover agent.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Lewis is credited with breaking down racial barriers and winning a legal battle in the 1970s to improve treatment of black and female agents.

It was a tough journey that spanned nearly three decades and involved some of the most dangerous assignments, Lewis, 84, told the Inquirer during an interview at his home in Cherry Hill.

“It was hard work and it was difficult,” Lewis recalled. “But to me, it was very worthwhile.”

Added Lewis Rice, a former special agent, “He’s a living legend, a legend for all ages.”

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Steve Neavling

FBI agents were trained to exploit the perceived weaknesses of various minority groups, including Mexicans, Catholics and black people, according to a bureau memo from 1947, the U.S. News & World Report writes.

Compiled for the FBI’s field agents, the memo describes Mexicans as “slow to respond.”

Catholics, according to the report, are easier to get information from, especially after leaving a confessional booth.

Phony insurance salespeople can easily dupe African-Americans into giving them information, according to the report.

Jack Johnson

The former school superintendent is behind bars. County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife are whisked away in handcuffs by FBI agents, after authorities say she flushed evidence in the form of a $100,000 check down the toilet. And a few days later, three county cops are indicted in an FBI probe linked to the county executive — a probe that has all the markings of a much bigger scandal to come.

This is no obscure county in the middle of Nowheresville, U.S.A. It’s Prince George’s County, 498 square miles with more than 800,000 residents, long considered one of the most affluent African-American majority counties in the nation. It’s home to the Washington Redskins’ FedEx Field and the University of Maryland. And it borders Washington, D.C.

Still, for all the good in the county, including some first-rate neighborhoods and a major new hotel, shopping and entertainment complex on the Potomac River, it has long fought hard in the public relations game and often come up short, battling nagging negatives.

Over the years, the police department was plagued by allegations of excessive force. The crime rate spiked a few years ago, with homicides hitting a record 173 in 2005, just 21 short of Washington’s tally. In 2008, Schools Superintendent Andre Hornsby was convicted of steering contracts to a girlfriend and a business associate in exchange for money. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

And now this.

To read more click here.

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