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FBI Special Agent Discusses Counterterrorism at GovSec West 2013

Kevin Kolbye, as assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas office, spoke about the FBI’s counterterrorism efforts.

  • By Jamie Friedlander
  • Nov 21, 2013

At GovSec West 2013, Dallas native Kevin Kolbye, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas office, discussed terrorism in a presentation entitled, “Terrorism, An Ever Evolving Threat: An Overview of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Mission.” Kolbye served as the FBI’s On-Scene Commander for the Benghazi investigation. In addition to talking about the Benghazi investigation, he discussed threats that our nation faces and how the FBI is addressing these threats.

Before speaking about Benghazi, Kolbye spoke about the FBI’s involvement in previous terrorist threats abroad. He also discussed other threats that our nation faces, such as cybercrime, weapons of mass destruction, homegrown violent extremism and active shooters.

kevinkolbyeIn countries such as Afghanistan, Kolbye pointed out, the FBI has six missions, which include: detainee interviews, biometrics, sensitive site exploitations, combined explosive exploitation cell, criminal investigations and capacity building.

Kolbye then began discussing international threats and stressed the importance of dealing with a terrorist attack toward the US that doesn’t occur on our turf (i.e. Benghazi) and stated, “If we’re going to be involved, we have to be there on the ground.” This is why the FBI went to Benghazi and also goes to foreign countries when an American citizen is kidnapped or murdered.

Having recently returned from Libya, Kolbye discussed the troubles the country is facing, both with creating a successful political system and with managing crime and terrorism. There are several indigenous terrorist groups plaguing Libya, as well as international ones such as Al-Qaeda. Before Gaddafi was thrown out of power, the country was under such a strict dictatorship that little to no crime occurred. Now the country is plagued with severe crime and terrorism, while also struggling to create a working political and legal system.

Toward the end of the presentation, when asked by an audience member what Kolbye saw as the biggest threat to the US, he said active shooters. According to Kolbye, while the FBI can manage something like taking down a terrorist plot, controlling active shooters is much more difficult because of gun availability, mental health troubles and the unpredictability factor. 

About the Author

Jamie Friedlander is an associate content editor at Security Products magazine.

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