Press Conference Regarding Shooting Incident at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Excerpts from Remarks Prepared for Delivery by FBI Assistant Director in Charge Joseph Persichini

Good morning, my name is Joseph Persichini and I am the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. I want to thank Mayor Fenty and Chief Lanier for their support in this investigation. I also want to express my condolences to the Johns’ family for their loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

As Chief Lanier stated, this is a joint investigation with the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police. We are pursuing dual tracks for charging purposes: one for the homicide of Officer Johns, and the other for domestic terrorism/civil rights/hate crimes.

We are in the preliminary stages of this investigation. Agents and detectives worked diligently throughout the night investigating this matter but we still have significant ground to cover. I want to make it clear that at this point we have no information that Mr. von Brunn had any accomplices or co-conspirators who assisted him in this act.

Responding to any event in the national capital region is unique and has many components. Since the Mumbai terrorist incident and our experience gained during the inauguration, all national capital area law enforcement components unilaterally agreed to an “active shooter plan,” which ensures resources are available to respond to any threat or incident. In yesterday’s incident, that plan was implemented and executed seamlessly across many agencies.

I want to thank all of our career detectives, agents, SWAT operators, evidence response technicians, and Fire Chief Dennis Reuben and his staff for their response to yesterday’s incident. I also want to thank our Joint Terrorism representatives: federal, state, and local law enforcement who engaged immediately, not only in this region, but in many locations across the country. And lastly, I want to thank our intelligence components who have been an integral part of this investigation, providing robust intelligence to the operators and at the command level.

Chief Lanier has provided a timeline of the events that occurred at the museum. Let me provide you an overview of what has occurred to date. We have executed search warrants at von Brunn’s residence and automobile and interviewed his relatives and associates. We have conducted interviews not only in the national capital region, but in other parts of the country. We are also in the process of conducting an exhaustive review of all types of media attached to Mr. von Brunn, which includes cell phones, Internet, and computer data.

Our goal is to develop a complete timeline on Mr. von Brunn, including his actions within the last 36 hours. We have asked our FBI personnel and law enforcement partners throughout the U.S. to check their records and re-contact sources to see what information we can gather. We have made contact with Jewish community leaders to ensure an open dialogue and an ability to share information and concerns.

The FBI did not have an open investigation on Mr. von Brunn, but we were aware of him and that he had a website that espoused hatred against various groups and government entities. Law enforcement is challenged every day to balance the civil liberties of U.S. citizens against the need to investigate activities of possible criminal conduct. No matter how offensive to some, we are keenly aware that expressing views by itself is not a crime and the protections afforded under the Constitution cannot be compromised.

- Read previous statement regarding this matter

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