Countering domestic terrorism has become the primary focus of the FBI ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, attack, former FBI Director Louis Freeh said Tuesday.
During his keynote address at a conference that included FBI agents, local law enforcement officers and members of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Freeh stressed the importance of federal cooperation with local police.
The number of FBI agents in the United States is less than the total number of police officers in Chicago, according to the former director.
Freeh said the United States is one of the few countries in the world that has no national police and that because of that, it is important for the FBI to unite with local police in the fight against domestic terrorism.
There are more than 750,000 state and local police officers in the United States, and those officers have played a vital role in partnership with the FBI, he said.
Domestic terrorists can represent radical right-wing, left-wing, or special interest groups. Their causes generally spring from issues relating to American political and social concerns, according to the FBI.
U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien told the conference that "terrorist groups remind us of the dangers that continue to confront our nation." He said both foreign enemies and so-called homegrown terrorists have the desire to stage potentially deadly attacks on American soil.
The ADL, which co-sponsored the conference, monitors and tracks hate-mongering extremists and their groups as well as domestic terrorists.
The ADL provided conference attendees with a list of extremist organizations and domestic terrorist groups and their symbols.
The FBI and local police urged the public to remain vigilant against those organizations.