WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Justice Department announced yesterday it will “surge FBI assets across the country to address unresolved violent crimes in Indian Country, including crimes relating to missing and murdered indigenous persons.”
The FBI will send 60 assets, rotating in 90-day temporary assignments over a six month period for Operation Not Forgotten. In addition to Portland and Seattle, the assets will be deployed to field offices in Albuquerque, Denver, Mississippi, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City. They will partner with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Tribal law enforcement agencies across those jurisdictions.
“The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) believes the U. S. Department of Justice’s announcement regarding a surge of FBI assets across Indian Country to address violent crimes is a step in the right direction and will evaluate what the announcement will mean for the Umatilla Indian Reservation and its residents,” CTUIR wrote in a statement about the announcement…