The Siege is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by Edward Zwick . The film is about a fictional situation in which terrorist cells have made several attacks in New York City . The film stars Denzel Washington , Annette Bening , Tony Shalhoub , and Bruce Willis .
86-505: FBI Special Agent Anthony Hubbard and his Lebanese American partner Frank Haddad intervene at the hijacking of a bus fully loaded with passengers, which contains an explosive device . The bomb turns out to be a paint bomb and the terrorists escape. The FBI receives demands to release Sheikh Ahmed Bin Talal, a suspect in an earlier bombing. Hubbard eventually comes into conflict with Central Intelligence Agency operative Elise Kraft as he takes
172-546: A bath house, but Samir shoots Bridger in the stomach as she struggles to stop him. Hubbard and Haddad kill Samir but despite their best efforts the pair can only watch as Bridger succumbs to her wound after managing to recite certain lines of the second half of the Lord's Prayer and concluding with " Inshallah " – the Arabic phrase "God Willing". Hubbard, Haddad, and their team raid Devereaux's headquarters to make an arrest for
258-685: A big fan of a lot of their singers…. [T]he first time I saw an American soldier was at Kandahar Air Base…. When I first saw myself in Kandahar, it was like I was in a cinema or a movie. I saw a 1996 movie called The Siege . The movie was about terrorists carrying out terrorist attacks in the United States…. [In the movie] the CIA and FBI were not successful in finding that terrorist group and the United States Army interfered and gathered all
344-506: A black student group at a Pennsylvania military college and the daughter of Congressman Henry S. Reuss of Wisconsin . The country was "jolted" by the revelations, which included assassinations of political activists, and the actions were denounced by members of the Congress, including House Majority Leader Hale Boggs . The phones of some members of the Congress, including Boggs, had allegedly been tapped. When President John F. Kennedy
430-744: A blind eye towards right-wing extremists while disseminating "conspiracy theories" on the origin of COVID-19 . The FBI is organized into functional branches and the Office of the Director, which contains most administrative offices. An executive assistant director manages each branch. Each branch is then divided into offices and divisions, each headed by an assistant director. The various divisions are further divided into sub-branches, led by deputy assistant directors. Within these sub-branches, there are various sections headed by section chiefs. Section chiefs are ranked analogous to special agents in charge. Four of
516-531: A chilling and just terrifying thing to see – that is what one takes away, I believe, from this film. In a September 2007 interview, screenwriter Lawrence Wright attributed the film's failure at the box office to Muslim and Arab protests at theaters playing the film, but also claimed that it was the most rented movie in America after the September 11 attacks . Scholar Moustafa Bayoumi has also critiqued
602-599: A civil rights leader, surgeon, and wealthy entrepreneur in Mississippi who had criticized FBI inaction in solving recent murders of George W. Lee , Emmett Till , and other blacks in the South. The FBI carried out controversial domestic surveillance in an operation it called the COINTELPRO , from "COunter-INTELligence PROgram". It was to investigate and disrupt the activities of dissident political organizations within
688-401: A culture where there seems to be so much to talk about, it's good to be talked about. What the movie is most deeply about – it's about our own latent possibilities of repression, stereotyping and prejudice [...] To see Americans rounded up in the streets, to see Americans put into stadiums, to see people held without habeas corpus – to have their rights violated in such a way is such
774-621: A dedicated FBI SWAT team dealing primarily with counter-terrorism scenarios. Unlike the special agents serving on local FBI SWAT teams, HRT does not conduct investigations. Instead, HRT focuses solely on additional tactical proficiency and capabilities. Also formed in 1984 was the Computer Analysis and Response Team , or CART. From the end of the 1980s to the early 1990s, the FBI reassigned more than 300 agents from foreign counter-intelligence duties to violent crime, and made violent crime
860-580: A dispute with Richard Jewell , who was a private security guard at the venue, along with some media organizations, in regard to the leaking of his name during the investigation; this had briefly led to his being wrongly suspected of the bombing. After Congress passed the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA, 1994), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA, 1996), and
946-580: A few hours after the attack, and over the next several weeks more than 5,500 Issei men were taken into FBI custody. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 , authorizing the removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. FBI Director Hoover opposed the subsequent mass removal and confinement of Japanese Americans authorized under Executive Order 9066, but Roosevelt prevailed. The vast majority went along with
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#17327811071261032-573: A good job with crowd scenes, but criticizing it as clumsy. Bruce Willis won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor for his performances in this film, Armageddon , and Mercury Rising . The film grossed $ 40,981,289 in North America and $ 75,691,623 in other territories on a budget of $ 70 million. In the film's second week, The Siege showed the teaser trailer for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace . When
1118-543: A report whose conclusions called into question 30 years of FBI testimony. It found the analytic model used by the FBI for interpreting results was deeply flawed, and the conclusion, that bullet fragments could be matched to a box of ammunition, was so overstated that it was misleading under the rules of evidence. One year later, the FBI decided to stop conducting bullet lead analyses. After a 60 Minutes / The Washington Post investigation in November 2007, two years later,
1204-416: A terrorist suspect into custody and arrests Kraft. Later, another terrorist threat is made and a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus is suicide bombed, killing 25 people. The FBI captures a man named Samir Nazhde, who admits to signing the visa application of one of the suicide bombers in the course of signing many applications for student visas in his job as a lecturer. However, Kraft insists that Samir
1290-438: Is a confrontation where no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory. Anyone initiating aggression might trigger their own demise. At the same time, the parties are unable to extract themselves from the situation without either negotiating a truce or suffering a loss, maintaining strategic tension until one of those three potential organic outcomes occurs or some outside force intervenes. The term Mexican standoff
1376-483: Is arrested. Martial law ends and the detainees, including Haddad's son, are given their freedom. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes awards the film a score of 44% based on 62 reviews. The site's consensus states: "An exciting, well-paced action film." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert gave the film 2 1 ⁄ 2 stars out of four, writing that director Edward Zwick does
1462-414: Is not a terrorist and that his continued freedom is vital to the investigation. Hubbard and his team track down and eliminate the remaining elements of the terrorist cell, and initially believe the threat is over. However, the terrorist incidents escalate with the bombing of a crowded theater and hostage-situation at an elementary school, and culminate in the destruction of One Federal Plaza, the location of
1548-560: Is now considered a movie trope , stemming from its frequent use as a plot device in cinema. A notable example is in Sergio Leone 's 1966 Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly , where the characters representing each played by Clint Eastwood , Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach , face each other in a showdown. Director John Woo , considered a major influence on the action film genre,
1634-597: Is only one way out for you." with audio recordings of King's sexual indiscretions. In March 1971, the residential office of an FBI agent in Media, Pennsylvania was burgled by a group calling itself the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI . Numerous files were taken and distributed to a range of newspapers, including The Harvard Crimson . The files detailed the FBI's extensive COINTELPRO program, which included investigations into lives of ordinary citizens—including
1720-547: Is still used today for all organized crime and any individuals who may fall under the Act's provisions. In 2003, a congressional committee called the FBI's organized crime informant program "one of the greatest failures in the history of federal law enforcement." The FBI allowed four innocent men to be convicted of the March 1965 gangland murder of Edward "Teddy" Deegan in order to protect Vincent Flemmi , an FBI informant. Three of
1806-648: The Communications Act of 1934 , which outlawed non-consensual phone tapping, but did allow bugging. In the 1939 case Nardone v. United States , the court ruled that due to the 1934 law, evidence the FBI obtained by phone tapping was inadmissible in court. After Katz v. United States (1967) overturned Olmstead , Congress passed the Omnibus Crime Control Act , allowing public authorities to tap telephones during investigations, as long as they obtained warrants beforehand. Beginning in
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#17327811071261892-548: The Council on American–Islamic Relations protested the insinuation that "Muslims have total disregard for human life." The groups were "faxing and calling news organizations on a regular basis" to voice their concerns. Director Edward Zwick had met with Arab Americans, who suggested that the story be changed to mirror the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing , when Arabs were immediately assumed responsible. This idea
1978-706: The Economic Espionage Act (EEA, 1996), the FBI followed suit and underwent a technological upgrade in 1998, just as it did with its CART team in 1991. Computer Investigations and Infrastructure Threat Assessment Center (CITAC) and the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) were created to deal with the increase in Internet -related problems, such as computer viruses, worms, and other malicious programs that threatened U.S. operations. With these developments,
2064-670: The January 6, 2021 attack on democratic institutions in Washington D.C. later testified in support of the Proud boys , who were part of the plot. Revelations about the informant raised fresh questions about intelligence failures by the FBI before the riot. According to the Brennan Center , and Senate committees , the FBI's response to white supremacist violence was "woefully inadequate". The FBI has long been suspected to have turned
2150-477: The Osage Indian murders . During the "War on Crime" of the 1930s, FBI agents apprehended or killed a number of notorious criminals who committed kidnappings, bank robberies, and murders throughout the nation, including John Dillinger , "Baby Face" Nelson , Kate "Ma" Barker , Alvin "Creepy" Karpis , and George "Machine Gun" Kelly . Other activities of its early decades focused on the scope and influence of
2236-498: The U.S. Secret Service , for personnel, investigators in particular. On May 27, 1908, Congress forbade this use of Treasury employees by the Justice Department, citing fears that the new agency would serve as a secret police department. Again at Roosevelt's urging, Bonaparte moved to organize a formal Bureau of Investigation , which would then have its own staff of special agents . The Bureau of Investigation (BOI)
2322-744: The United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency . An agency of the United States Department of Justice , the FBI is a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence . A leading U.S. counterterrorism , counterintelligence , and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes . Although many of
2408-581: The white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan , a group with which the FBI was evidenced to be working in the Viola Liuzzo lynching case. Earlier, through the work of Edwin Atherton , the BOI claimed to have successfully apprehended an entire army of Mexican neo-revolutionaries under the leadership of General Enrique Estrada in the mid-1920s, east of San Diego, California. Hoover began using wiretapping in
2494-563: The 1920s during Prohibition to arrest bootleggers. In the 1927 case Olmstead v. United States , in which a bootlegger was caught through telephone tapping, the United States Supreme Court ruled that FBI wiretaps did not violate the Fourth Amendment as unlawful search and seizure, as long as the FBI did not break into a person's home to complete the tapping. After Prohibition's repeal, Congress passed
2580-462: The 1940s and continuing into the 1970s, the bureau investigated cases of espionage against the United States and its allies. Eight Nazi agents who had planned sabotage operations against American targets were arrested, and six were executed ( Ex parte Quirin ) under their sentences. Also during this time, a joint US/UK code-breaking effort called "The Venona Project "—with which the FBI
2666-534: The Army and the profiling of the Arabs; the Army fights to maintain control. There are reports of Army killings. Hubbard and Kraft, now revealed to be an intelligence operative named Sharon Bridger, continue their investigation and capture a suspect, Tariq Husseini. Devereaux's men torture and kill Husseini in the course of the interrogation. Afterward, Bridger tells Hubbard that Husseini revealed nothing of value because of
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2752-586: The Bureau agreed to identify, review, and release all pertinent cases, and notify prosecutors about cases in which faulty testimony was given. In 2012, the FBI formed the National Domestic Communications Assistance Center to develop technology for assisting law enforcement with technical knowledge regarding communication services, technologies, and electronic surveillance. An FBI informant, who participated in
2838-666: The Bureau of Investigation, the BOI or BI for short. Its name was changed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1935. The FBI headquarters is the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. The FBI has a list of the top 10 most wanted fugitives . The mission of the FBI is to "protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States ". Currently, the FBI's top priorities are: In
2924-617: The FBI created the Top Hoodlum Program. The national office directed field offices to gather information on mobsters in their territories and to report it regularly to Washington for a centralized collection of intelligence on racketeers . After the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act , for RICO Act, took effect, the FBI began investigating the former Prohibition-organized groups, which had become fronts for crime in major cities and small towns. All
3010-591: The FBI increased its electronic surveillance in public safety and national security investigations, adapting to the telecommunications advancements that changed the nature of such problems. During the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center , FBI agent Leonard W. Hatton Jr. was killed during the rescue effort while helping the rescue personnel evacuate the occupants of the South Tower, and he stayed when it collapsed. Within months after
3096-490: The FBI work was done undercover and from within these organizations, using the provisions provided in the RICO Act. Gradually the agency dismantled many of the groups. Although Hoover initially denied the existence of a National Crime Syndicate in the United States, the Bureau later conducted operations against known organized crime syndicates and families, including those headed by Sam Giancana and John Gotti . The RICO Act
3182-725: The FBI's New York City field office, with over 600 casualties. In spite of objections, the President of the United States declares martial law and the United States Army 's 101st Airborne Division , under Major General William Devereaux, occupies and seals off Brooklyn in an effort to locate the remaining terrorist cells. Subsequently, all young men of Arab descent, including Haddad's son Frank Jr., are rounded up and detained in Downing Stadium . Haddad resigns in outrage. New Yorkers stage violent demonstrations against
3268-563: The FBI's auto mechanics and janitors. For over 40 years, the FBI crime lab in Quantico had believed that lead alloys used in bullets had unique chemical signatures. It was analyzing the bullets with the goal of matching them chemically, not only to a single batch of ammunition coming out of a factory, but also to a single box of bullets. The National Academy of Sciences conducted an 18-month independent review of comparative bullet-lead analysis . In 2003, its National Research Council published
3354-684: The FBI's functions are unique, its activities in support of national security are comparable to those of the British MI5 and NCA , the New Zealand GCSB and the Russian FSB . Unlike the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which has no law enforcement authority and is focused on intelligence collection abroad, the FBI is primarily a domestic agency, maintaining 56 field offices in major cities throughout
3440-649: The FBI, CIA, and the rest of the United States Intelligence Community . The book blamed the FBI's decentralized structure, which prevented effective communication and cooperation among different FBI offices. The book suggested that the FBI had not evolved into an effective counter-terrorism or counter-intelligence agency, due in large part to deeply ingrained agency cultural resistance to change. For example, FBI personnel practices continued to treat all staff other than special agents as support staff, classifying intelligence analysts alongside
3526-454: The FBI, and the Origins of 9/11 . The Post reported, from Zegart's book, that government documents showed that both the CIA and the FBI had missed 23 potential chances to disrupt the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The primary reasons for the failures included: agency cultures resistant to change and new ideas; inappropriate incentives for promotion; and a lack of cooperation between
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3612-454: The FBI. While the FBI did accede to most of the recommendations, including oversight by the new director of National Intelligence , some former members of the 9/11 Commission publicly criticized the FBI in October 2005, claiming it was resisting any meaningful changes. On July 8, 2007, The Washington Post published excerpts from UCLA Professor Amy Zegart's book Spying Blind: The CIA,
3698-495: The September 11, 2001, attacks. The 9/11 Commission 's final report on July 22, 2004, stated that the FBI and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were both partially to blame for not pursuing intelligence reports that could have prevented the September 11 attacks. In its most damning assessment, the report concluded that the country had "not been well served" by either agency and listed numerous recommendations for changes within
3784-436: The United States, and more than 400 resident agencies in smaller cities and areas across the nation. At an FBI field office, a senior-level FBI officer concurrently serves as the representative of the director of national intelligence . Despite its domestic focus, the FBI also maintains a significant international footprint, operating 60 Legal Attache (LEGAT) offices and 15 sub-offices in U.S. embassies and consulates across
3870-679: The United States, including both militant and non-violent organizations. Among its targets was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference , a leading civil rights organization whose clergy leadership included the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. . The FBI frequently investigated King. In the mid-1960s, King began to criticize the Bureau for giving insufficient attention to the use of terrorism by white supremacists. Hoover responded by publicly calling King
3956-487: The United States, ultimately leading to the present situation as they turn their bomb making and covert skills on the country that now holds their leader. It was also revealed that the Sheikh was apprehended by Devereaux without the government's approval. She and Hubbard compel Samir to arrange a meeting with the final terrorist cell. Hubbard convinces Haddad to return to the FBI. A multi-ethnic peace march demonstrates against
4042-540: The World Trade Center in 1993 , but said that Arab and Islamic groups are upset by "the very strong equation between Muslim religious practices and terrorism. ...[Thanks to this film] Every time someone goes through the Muslim ablution , the ritual washing of hands everybody does before they pray five times a day , that image is the announcement to the viewer of the presence of violence." Echoing such criticism,
4128-503: The abuse that Dergoul described in his first post-repatriation interview. On July 12, 2006, the magazine Mother Jones provided excerpts from the transcripts of a selection of the Guantánamo detainees. Yunis Abdurrahman Shokuri was one of the detainees profiled. According to the article, his transcript contained the following comment: [T]he only way I know the United States is through movies from Hollywood or through cartoons. I’m
4214-550: The area during the 1992 Los Angeles riots . HRT operators, for instance, spent 10 days conducting vehicle-mounted patrols throughout Los Angeles , before returning to Virginia. Between 1993 and 1996, the FBI increased its counter-terrorism role following the first 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City , the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing , and the arrest of the Unabomber in 1996. Technological innovation and
4300-510: The attacks, FBI Director Robert Mueller , who had been sworn in a week before the attacks, called for a re-engineering of FBI structure and operations. He made countering every federal crime a top priority, including the prevention of terrorism, countering foreign intelligence operations, addressing cybersecurity threats, other high-tech crimes, protecting civil rights, combating public corruption, organized crime, white-collar crime, and major acts of violent crime. In February 2001, Robert Hanssen
4386-540: The branches report to the deputy director while two report to the associate director. The main branches of the FBI are: Each branch focuses on different tasks, and some focus on more than one. Here are some of the tasks that different branches are in charge of: National Security Branch (NSB) Intelligence Branch (IB) FBI Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch (CCRSB) Science and Technology Branch (STB) Information and Technology Branch (ITB) Mexican standoff A Mexican standoff
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#17327811071264472-427: The federal government, from the lowliest clerk to the more powerful position of White house aide." On May 27, 1953, Executive Order 10450 went into effect. The program was expanded further by this executive order by making all federal employment of homosexuals illegal. On July 8, 1953, the FBI forwarded to the U.S. Civil Service Commission information from the sex deviates program. Between 1977 and 1978, 300,000 pages in
4558-592: The film opened, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee came out against the film. Its spokesman Hussein Ibish said " The Siege is extremely offensive. It's beyond offensive. We're used to offensive, that's become a daily thing. This is actually dangerous." He thought it was "Insidious and incendiary" because it "reinforces stereotypes that lead to hate crimes ." Ibish acknowledged that Arab terrorists did, in fact, bomb
4644-550: The fiscal year 2019, the Bureau's total budget was approximately $ 9.6 billion. In the Authorization and Budget Request to Congress for fiscal year 2021, the FBI asked for $ 9,800,724,000. Of that money, $ 9,748,829,000 would be used for Salaries and Expenses (S&E) and $ 51,895,000 for Construction. The S&E program saw an increase of $ 199,673,000. In 1896, the National Bureau of Criminal Identification
4730-417: The globe. These foreign offices exist primarily for the purpose of coordination with foreign security services and do not usually conduct unilateral operations in the host countries. The FBI can and does at times carry out secret activities overseas, just as the CIA has a limited domestic function . These activities generally require coordination across government agencies. The FBI was established in 1908 as
4816-412: The government. Hoover was substantially involved in most major cases and projects that the FBI handled during his tenure. But as detailed below, his tenure as Bureau director proved to be highly controversial, especially in its later years. After Hoover's death, Congress passed legislation that limited the tenure of future FBI directors to ten years. Early homicide investigations of the new agency included
4902-650: The houses of prostitution in preparation for enforcing the "White Slave Traffic Act" or Mann Act , passed on June 25, 1910. In 1932, the bureau was renamed the United States Bureau of Investigation. The following year, 1933, the BOI was linked to the Bureau of Prohibition and rechristened the Division of Investigation (DOI); it became an independent service within the Department of Justice in 1935. In
4988-402: The involved parties. The inability of any particular party to advance its position safely is a condition common amongst all standoffs; in a "Mexican standoff", however, there is an additional disadvantage: no party has a safe way to withdraw from its position, thus making the standoff effectively permanent. The cliché of a Mexican standoff where each party is threatening another with a gun
5074-720: The list belonged to Issei community leaders, as the FBI investigation built on an existing Naval Intelligence index that had focused on Japanese Americans in Hawaii and the West Coast, but many German and Italian nationals also found their way onto the FBI Index list. Robert Shivers, head of the Honolulu office, obtained permission from Hoover to start detaining those on the list on December 7, 1941, while bombs were still falling over Pearl Harbor . Mass arrests and searches of homes, in most cases conducted without warrants, began
5160-512: The men were sentenced to death (which was later reduced to life in prison), and the fourth defendant was sentenced to life in prison. Two of the four men died in prison after serving almost 30 years, and two others were released after serving 32 and 36 years. In July 2007, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner in Boston found that the Bureau had helped convict the four men using false witness accounts given by mobster Joseph Barboza . The U.S. Government
5246-400: The most "notorious liar" in the United States. In his 1991 memoir, Washington Post journalist Carl Rowan asserted that the FBI had sent at least one anonymous letter to King encouraging him to commit suicide. Historian Taylor Branch documents an anonymous November 1964 "suicide package" sent by the Bureau that combined a letter to the civil rights leader telling him "You are done. There
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#17327811071265332-417: The occupation of Brooklyn. As the march is getting under way Hubbard and Haddad arrive at the meeting place, but Bridger and Samir have already left. Samir reveals to Bridger that he constitutes the final cell while in another sense he says, "there will never be a last cell." He straps a bomb to his body which he intends to detonate among the marchers. Hubbard and Haddad arrive in time to prevent him from leaving
5418-403: The people of Arabic descent and put them in a land cage or camp just like it happened in Kandahar. I was shocked, thinking, "Am I in that movie or on a stage in Hollywood?"… Sometimes I laugh at myself and say, "When does that movie end?" Federal Bureau of Investigation#Rank structure The Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) is the domestic intelligence and security service of
5504-437: The principle of compartmentalized information . Sickened, she finally admits that she herself provided training and support to militants opposed to Saddam Hussein ' s regime , working with Samir to recruit and train the followers of the Sheikh. After the U.S. cut their funding and left the group exposed, she took pity on the few of the victims who had not yet been slaughtered by Hussein's forces, and arranged for them to escape to
5590-450: The program by issuing a memo establishing a "uniform policy for the handling of the increasing number of reports and allegations concerning present and past employees of the United States Government who assertedly [sic] are sex deviates." The program was expanded to include non-government jobs. According to Athan Theoharis , "In 1951 he [Hoover] had unilaterally instituted a Sex Deviates program to purge alleged homosexuals from any position in
5676-404: The racialization of Arabs in the film and suggests it is indicative of an emerging sub-genre defined by "the notion of African-American leadership of the Arab world, intertwined with friendship with it." Scholar Alexandra Campbell quoted from former Guantanamo Bay detention camp captive Tarek Dergoul when she compared the fictional demonization and extrajudicial abuse of Muslims in the film and
5762-458: The reference is to the Mexican–American War or post-war Mexican bandits in the 19th century. The earliest known use of the phrase in print was on 19 March 1876, in a short story about Mexico, featuring the line: "Go-!" said he sternly then. "We will call it a stand-off, a Mexican stand-off, you lose your money, but you save your life!" The term "Mexican standoff" is considered derogatory towards people of Mexican origin. In popular culture,
5848-434: The regulation of interstate commerce since 1887, though it lacked the staff to do so. It had made little effort to relieve its staff shortage until the Oregon land fraud scandal at the turn of the 20th century. President Roosevelt instructed Attorney General Charles Bonaparte to organize an autonomous investigative service that would report only to the Attorney General . Bonaparte reached out to other agencies, including
5934-435: The same year, its name was officially changed from the Division of Investigation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). J. Edgar Hoover served as FBI director from 1924 to 1972, a combined 48 years with the BOI, DOI, and FBI. He was chiefly responsible for creating the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, or the FBI Laboratory , which officially opened in 1932, as part of his work to professionalize investigations by
6020-407: The school that thinks that movies should not only make you uncomfortable, they might make you think. …You can anticipate any kind of reaction in these times in which sensitivity seems very high in the culture. I have a friend who says, if you've not offended somebody, you're a nobody. …How does it feel to be a lightning rod? It gets the blood going. I think it's better than being universally ignored. In
6106-415: The sex deviates program, collected between 1930 and the mid-1970s, were destroyed by FBI officials. During the 1950s and 1960s, FBI officials became increasingly concerned about the influence of civil rights leaders, whom they believed either had communist ties or were unduly influenced by communists or " fellow travelers ". In 1956, for example, Hoover sent an open letter denouncing Dr. T. R. M. Howard ,
6192-693: The sixth national priority. With cuts to other well-established departments, and because terrorism was no longer considered a threat after the end of the Cold War , the FBI assisted local and state police forces in tracking fugitives who had crossed state lines, which is a federal offense. The FBI Laboratory helped develop DNA testing, continuing its pioneering role in identification that began with its fingerprinting system in 1924. On May 1, 1992, FBI SWAT and HRT personnel in Los Angeles County, California aided local officials in securing peace within
6278-618: The skills of FBI Laboratory analysts helped ensure that the three cases were successfully prosecuted. However, Justice Department investigations into the FBI's roles in the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents were found to have been obstructed by agents within the Bureau. During the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia , the FBI was criticized for its investigation of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing . It has settled
6364-483: The subsequent exclusion orders, but in a handful of cases where Japanese Americans refused to obey the new military regulations, FBI agents handled their arrests. The Bureau continued surveillance on Japanese Americans throughout the war, conducting background checks on applicants for resettlement outside camp, and entering the camps, usually without the permission of War Relocation Authority officials, and grooming informants to monitor dissidents and "troublemakers". After
6450-561: The term Mexican standoff references confrontations in which neither opponent appears to have a measurable advantage. Historically, commentators have used the term to reference the Soviet Union – United States nuclear confrontation during the Cold War , specifically the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The key element that makes such situations Mexican standoffs is the perceived equality of power exercised amongst
6536-627: The torture and murder of Husseini. Devereaux insists that under the War Powers Resolution the authority vested in himself by the President supersedes that of the court which issued the arrest warrant . He then commands his soldiers to aim their assault rifles at the agents, resulting in a Mexican standoff . Hubbard reminds Devereaux that the civil liberties and human rights which he took from Husseini are what all of his predecessors have fought and died for. Devereaux finally submits and
6622-571: The war, the FBI was assigned to protect returning Japanese Americans from attacks by hostile white communities. According to Douglas M. Charles, the FBI's "sex deviates" program began on April 10, 1950, when J. Edgar Hoover forwarded to the White House, to the U.S. Civil Service Commission, and to branches of the armed services a list of 393 alleged federal employees who had allegedly been arrested in Washington, D.C., since 1947, on charges of "sexual irregularities". On June 20, 1951, Hoover expanded
6708-487: Was caught selling information to the Russian government. It was later learned that Hanssen, who had reached a high position within the FBI, had been selling intelligence since as early as 1979. He pleaded guilty to espionage and received a life sentence in 2002, but the incident led many to question the security practices employed by the FBI. There was also a claim that Hanssen might have contributed information that led to
6794-544: Was created on July 26, 1908. Attorney General Bonaparte, using Department of Justice expense funds, hired thirty-four people, including some veterans of the Secret Service, to work for a new investigative agency. Its first "chief" (the title is now "director") was Stanley Finch . Bonaparte notified the Congress of these actions in December 1908. The bureau's first official task was visiting and making surveys of
6880-442: Was founded, providing agencies across the country with information to identify known criminals. The 1901 assassination of President William McKinley created a perception that the United States was under threat from anarchists . The Departments of Justice and Labor had been keeping records on anarchists for years, but President Theodore Roosevelt wanted more power to monitor them. The Justice Department had been tasked with
6966-448: Was heavily involved—broke Soviet diplomatic and intelligence communications codes, allowing the US and British governments to read Soviet communications. This effort confirmed the existence of Americans working in the United States for Soviet intelligence. Hoover was administering this project, but he failed to notify the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of it until 1952. Another notable case
7052-659: Was ordered to pay $ 100 million in damages to the four defendants. In 1982, the FBI formed an elite unit to help with problems that might arise at the 1984 Summer Olympics to be held in Los Angeles, particularly terrorism and major-crime. This was a result of the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany , when terrorists murdered the Israeli athletes . Named the Hostage Rescue Team , or HRT, it acts as
7138-402: Was originally used in the context of using firearms and it still commonly implies a situation in which the parties face some form of threat from one another; the standoffs can span from someone holding a phone threatening to call the police being held in check by a blackmailer , to global confrontations. The Mexican standoff as an armed stalemate is a recurring cinematic trope . Sources claim
7224-401: Was rejected. Zwick noted that The Siege ' s villains also include members of the U.S. government, and dismissed the criticism, saying: Anytime you talk about issues that touch on religion of any kind, you can anticipate this kind of reaction. Should we only present every group as paragons and monoliths of virtue? The movie inspires to engender this kind of dialogue. I happen to come from
7310-458: Was shot and killed, the jurisdiction fell to the local police departments until President Lyndon B. Johnson directed the FBI to take over the investigation. To ensure clarity about the responsibility for investigation of homicides of federal officials, Congress passed a law in 1965 that included investigations of such deaths of federal officials, especially by homicide, within FBI jurisdiction. In response to organized crime, on August 25, 1953,
7396-462: Was the arrest of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in 1957. The discovery of Soviet spies operating in the US motivated Hoover to pursue his longstanding concern with the threat he perceived from the American Left . In 1939, the Bureau began compiling a custodial detention list with the names of those who would be taken into custody in the event of war with Axis nations. The majority of the names on
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