FBI agent talks in Modesto about hate crimes, and hears from a possible target of one
An FBI supervisor urged a Modesto audience to report possible threats from extremists motivated by race, religion or politics.
He learned of one on the spot, from a Turlock woman who recently found a T-shirt on her doorstep with graphic racist images.
The exchange took place Thursday evening, March 24, at the Town Hall Meeting on Domestic Terrorism. It was put on by the local chapters of the NAACP and ACLU at Redeemer Modesto church on H Street.
Special Agent Christopher McKinney of the FBI was joined on the dais by Modesto Police Chief Brandon Gillespie and Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse. Modesto Bee Opinions Editor Garth Stapley moderated the forum.
McKinney leads a Ripon-based task force on terrorist threats in a five-county region. His cases included a Modesto man sentenced to prison in 2018 for plotting to bomb Pier 39 in San Francisco on behalf of ISIS.
McKinney said race is the primary reason for crimes under his purview. He also cited far-right militias and extreme members of the animal-rights and anti-abortion movements.
The agent said he has to balance these threats against constitutional rights to free speech and gun ownership.
“You can believe whatever you want to,” he said. “Just don’t go hurt people.”
Threat on a Turlock doorstep
Cathy Doo of Turlock was among the 70 or so people in the audience. She is a Chinese-American active in anti-hate efforts and Democratic politics.
Doo showed McKinney a T-shirt that she said was left outside her home on March 3. It depicts a decapitated head, a watermelon with a dagger in it, and the number 6.
“A decapitated head?” McKinney said. “You can see that as a threat.” He took a photo of the shirt for his files.
Doo said she reported the threat to the Turlock Police Department but has not had a response.
“I’m not down on the police,” she said. “I want them to do their job.”
Gillespie said Modesto has had relatively few hate crime reports, with 17 between 2019 and 2021. But he also noted that the city has been home to “straight pride” gatherings that target LGBTQ+ people.
All three speakers urged residents to report possible threats, even if they might not result in violence. The information can be used to build cases against offenders in the future.
An ACLU leader objected to the “militarization” of law enforcement, such as armored vehicles and high-powered rifles for SWAT teams. The speakers responded that they have had to keep up with the increased firepower of offenders.
Jan. 6 still looms large
The Jan. 6, 2021, assault at the U.S. Capitol also came up. Audience members noted that police officers and members of the military joined the crowd trying to block President Joe Biden’s election.
“This is an erosion and a corrosion from the inside out,” said Mary Roaf, assistant professor of ethnic studies at California State University, Stanislaus.
Dirkse and Gillespie both said they screen employees for extremist views and could fire anyone who failed the test. McKinney said the FBI has zero tolerance, too.
The agent urged parents to keep children from seeing hateful messages online. And speakers suggested that audience members try to connect with people with varying views.
“I think the more that we can get to know people that are different from us, a lot of times that fear goes away,” Gillespie said.
