By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
The halls on the 12th floor of this downtown Seattle office building would look like any other except for a few notable differences: for instance, the walls covered with mugshots and surveillance photos of bank robbers, or the true-to-life shootout simulator.
The invitation to visit the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s downtown office came as a courtesy to members of the Anti-Defamation League’s Steinberg Leadership Institute. More than 30 participants in the year-long program — including some who had been unable to go last year due to security concerns — came downtown for the tour on the evening of Feb. 13.
Before the tour, the group heard talks from Brian David Goldberg, director of the Northwest branch of the ADL, and FBI agents that included Charles Mandigo, who as the representative of the Seattle office, was given the Northwest ADL’s Defender of Freedom award.
The ADL and FBI’s relationship, based upon sharing of information, goes back many years. Goldberg said the two agencies work so well together because of the level of trust and the accuracy of the ADL’s fact finding.
“The FBI relies on our numbers,” Goldberg said. “We’re known for being about as accurate as you can possibly be.”
Mandigo, who has worked for the FBI for close to 25 years, spent close to an hour explaining how the agency investigates activity ranging from child-pornography detection to white-collar crimes to terrorism. Since Sept. 2001, fighting terrorism at home and abroad has become the number one priority.
Mandigo classified different types of terrorists, and noted that most areas of the country would likely experience acts of terrorism from white-supremacist groups before a reprise of the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy. He was quick to point out, however, that an attack from a hate group would not have nearly the scope or effect of the attacks on Sept. 11.
The group also saw a slide show that presented evidence of how Richard Reid, the man who attempted to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with a bomb in his shoe, was caught. Never let it be said that FBI agents have no sense of humor. The agent who presented the slide show interspersed short comic strips throughout, and gave the reason why Reid attracted attention in the first place: “He was one ugly dude.” He also said that Reid has “no remorse to this day of what he was trying to do.”
The Steinberg participants sat on the edges of their seats as the presentation and question/answer session went on. During the dinner preceding the talks, several participants expressed their interest in both the FBI tour and the Steinberg program.
Participant Daphna Steier said she was “impressed by the reach of ADL into the small-town scene.” Some of the largest concentration of hate groups reside in the Pacific Northwest, mostly in small towns and rural areas. While the ADL’s core mission is to end hatred toward the Jewish people, its charter states that “its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike.”
Melissa Williams-Gurian is the volunteer co-chair of Seattle’s branch of the Steinberg Leadership Institute.
Williams-Gurian was nominated to be a part of the original Steinberg program three years ago. She said she likes how the program touches issues beyond simply Jewish ones.
The program is named for Leigh Steinberg, the sports agent whom the movie Jerry Magure was based upon. Steinberg found several years ago that the ADL decisionmakers were composed of mainly older men with what he felt were outdated opinions on several issues.
As a result, he gave the money to begin the program to diversify the interest of members of the Jewish community to many different backgrounds. Members of the program must apply, and most are nominated and must be willing to attend most of the events and workshops offered. There is no cost to be a part of the institute beyond airfare for the annual trip to Washington, D.C.
The program appears to be working, as the participants in this year’s class range in age from the early 20s to the mid 50s. There was also an equal balance between men and women.
The group meets about once a month to learn about how the ADL works in the community. They acquire skills in educating the population to fight for protection of civil rights, as well as learn about governmental affairs and community development. SLI members hear from people who have already done what the participants are learning about. The year culminates with a trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with leadership and spend a day lobbying.
In just under three days, last year’s SLI met a large number of political figures that included Ariel Sharon and Colin Powell.
While a couple attendees expressed disappointment with the lack of organization among some of the speakers, most were quite enthusiastic about what they had learned.
The meeting at the FBI office was one of the highlights of the year. The tour was enlightening in terms of learning from the people who do the work about what they do. The relationship between the FBI and the ADL is one of strange bedfellows, however.
Especially since Sept. 11, the FBI has been criticized for its handling of civil rights issues, ranging from the demand of book-sales records to the systematic questioning of all men of Iraqi descent who live in the U.S. Mandigo said they only wish to gain as much information about Iraq as possible.
Goldberg defended the FBI from some of this criticism.
“There are powers that the FBI have now that they didn’t have prior to Sept 11,” Goldberg said. “They’re exercising their jobs under these new guidelines – they haven’t broken the law.”
Goldberg said the ADL has criticized — and should criticize — new laws that have limited civil rights, and that sometimes might spread to the way the FBI handles issues.
That criticism is what has drawn people to the Steinberg Leadership Institute and the ADL in general in the first place. And, as many participants said, it’s important that they hear about a Jewish organization’s role in the larger community.