FBI’s Norfolk Division committed to protect Hampton Roads
In response to the Capitol attack, the Norfolk Joint Terrorism Task Force is assisting with the FBI’s Washington Field Office investigation
The FBI’s Norfolk Division has been serving Hampton Roads for nearly 80 years, working closely with our partners to confront a broad range of threats and keep our community safe. The men and women of Norfolk have captured infamous spies, faced down mobsters, street gangs and outlaw bikers, and exposed corrupt bankers and dishonest public officials. In December, I was given the honor of leading this accomplished FBI division into the next decade.
Every decade brings its own challenges, but the FBI’s mission to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution never changes. In Hampton Roads, we expect counterintelligence threats will continue to confront our military and defense industries, malicious cyber actors will target our business community, scammers will attempt to deceive older Americans, and online predators will prey on children. The COVID-19 pandemic will offer criminals new opportunities to dust off old scams, and while violent extremism is not new the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol demonstrates the urgency of those types of threats today.
In response to the Capitol attack, Norfolk is assisting with the FBI’s Washington Field
Office investigation. The Norfolk Joint Terrorism Task Force has arrested five individuals in the region for criminal activities related to the attack and continues to identify more thanks in large part to tips from the community.
Protecting Hampton Roads from all forms of violent extremism will continue to be a top priority for Norfolk. Our mission is proactive, and our goal is to prevent international and domestic extremists from conducting violent attacks in the first place.
To be clear, the FBI does not investigate First Amendment protected activity. Our focus is not on rhetoric or membership in particular groups, but on violence, threats and criminal activity. We work together with our partners through the Norfolk JTTF to ensure our communities are safe, but law enforcement efforts alone are not enough to stay ahead of the threats. We need help from the community and ask anyone who witnesses concerning behavior to contact us and help us prevent violent attacks that disrupt our peaceful communities and endanger innocent lives.
The division is also focused on growing threats from cyber criminals. As the virtual world evolves, cyber threats are more pervasive, and everyone is a potential target. Ransomware attacks disrupt schools and cripple hospitals. Business email compromise schemes trick employees into diverting financial transfers to criminals. Romance scams victimize older Americans and break hearts as well as bank accounts.
Most of these scams originate overseas, and while the FBI has a long reach once money is sent it is very difficult to get it back. Our most effective weapon in this fight is prevention and our public awareness efforts aim to help people avoid becoming a victim. To stay up to date on new warnings follow us on Twitter @FBINorfolk and visit our web page at fbi.gov/Norfolk.
Hampton Roads has long been a target for foreign adversaries and our counterintelligence mission will be one of our most important priorities for decades to come. Hostile adversaries target the region’s critical infrastructure and maritime industries, and foreign intelligence services attempt to leverage insiders to steal military and government secrets, technology, and American know-how. In this arena, we work closely with our military and intelligence partners and lean into relationships we have built within the defense industry, academia, and the private sector to protect the nation’s secrets and economic interests.
Keeping Hampton Roads safe and protecting our vital economic and strategic interests is a shared responsibility, and success requires a community-wide approach built on relationships of trust. For our part, as we carry out the FBI’s mission, we commit to upholding the standards of collaboration, transparency, and integrity this community has come to expect from the Norfolk Division.
VIRGINIA BEACH — The Green Run High boys and Princess Anne High girls moved a step closer to defending their Class 5 state titles on Saturday as both won Region A titles.
Green Run, which shared the Class 5 state title last season with Norview, beat Salem 87-68. The Cavaliers, who shared the Class 5 state title with Highland Springs, beat Salem 75-43. The Stallions will host Region B champion L.C. Bird (of Chesterfield County) on Wednesday. The Cavaliers also will host L.C. Bird.
Both teams realize how fortunate they were to play basketball this season when so many other teams in Hampton Roads and around the state didn’t get the chance.
“We’re just thankful for the opportunity to play,” said Green Run coach Kenneth Harris. “I know a lot of teams would have loved to have played and wanted to be in this situation. But at the same time, the Beach (District) gave us an opportunity. Our goal is to get right back in the state.”
Princess Anne coach Darnell Dozier agreed.
“Nobody predicted this,” Dozier said about how this season turned out. “But if you get the chance to play, you just well make the best of it. No matter who the competition in front of you is, you gotta play.”
Unlike previous seasons when the region runner-up also advanced to the state tournament, only the region champion will advance to next week’s state tournament, which will start on Wednesday.
Seniors Elijah Kennedy and Jacob Cooper, who finished with 33 and 24 points, respectively, led Green Run.
The Stallions (8-0) led 20-14 after the first quarter and extended their lead to 11 early in the second. But they couldn’t pull away from the SunDevils (4-3) as Green Run led 35-29 at the half.
The SunDevils cut the deficit to five in the third quarter with 2:12 left, led by senior Bryce Shaw, who scored eight of his team-high 23 points in that quarter.
But the SunDevils had no answer for Kennedy, who scored
13 points in the fourth quarter. “I expect every shot to go in,” he said. “So, I kept shooting it.”
Last season, the Stallions won a share of the state title. Their motivation was former star player Ashley “AJ” James, who died March 2 from an accidental shooting before the start of the state playoffs.
He’ll again be their motivation, but they also are playing for themselves.
“We did it for my boy, AJ,” Cooper said. “This year, same reason, but it’s for us, though. Last year was the school, the program and the community. This year, we’re putting it on our shoulders and it’s for us.”
The SunDevils, who finished 5-3, also got help from Joshua Stephen and Donovan Ward, who finished with 16 and 12 points, respectively.
Princess Anne, which advanced to its 13th consecutive state tournament appearance, didn’t play particularly well in Dozier’s estimation, but the Cavaliers
got the job done.
Senior Aziaha James scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Cavaliers (8-0). She also had seven rebounds and five steals. They also got help from Cyriah Griffin and Michelle Ojo, who each scored 14. Zakiya Stephenson contributed with 10 points.
The Cavaliers only led by eight with 2:06 left in the first half and led 42-29 at the half. But they blew the game open in the second half with a 12-1 run to start the third quarter.
“People come out with energy all the time (against us), and they’re going to play hard,” Dozier said. “And
that’s a hard-playing team. They’re really physical. We needed that to go where we got to go, and to do what we got to do.”
Quiana Vazquez scored 17 points to lead Salem (7-2).
Jordan Spieth holed out from 160 yards for eagle on the 16th hole at Pebble Beach, the start of a stunning turnaround that took him from two shots behind to a two-shot lead Saturday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
These moments used to happen when Spieth was winning all the time. This was the second time this week he holed out from the fairway, and now he is on the cusp of ending more than three years without a victory.
He shot 1-under 71 as he goes for a second victory at Pebble Beach in the last five years.
A pedestrian round that included bogeys on two of the par-5s left Spieth two shots out of the lead with three holes to play. And then it all changed. His hard draw to a left pin on the 16th landed about 8 feet right of the hole and took the slope all the way to the bottom of the cup.
Two holes later, Daniel Berger sent his drive well to the right, over the bunkers and onto a cart path. It settled next to the hedges and was out-of-bounds by mere inches. Berger called over an official for a linear measurement, but it was out. That led to double bogey and a 72.
MLB: The Diamondbacks have agreed to a $1.75 million, one-year deal with veteran infielder Asdrúbal Cabrera, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press. The agreement was reached on Friday and confirmed to the AP on condition of anonymity Saturday because the deal is pending a physical. Cabrera can earn up to $1.05 million in performance bonuses. ... Matt Harvey will try to revive his career with the Orioles. The 31-year-old right-hander agreed Saturday to a minor league contract with the Orioles. He would get a $1 million, one-year contract if added to the 40-man roster, and would have the chance to earn performance bonuses. ... Outfielder Jay Bruce agreed Saturday to a minor league contract with the Yankees and will try to win a job at big league spring training. The 33-year-old has an opportunity as a left-handed bat in a primarily righthanded lineup. ... The Mets’ pitching staff took a hit before the start of spring training when the team announced Saturday that Seth Lugo needs elbow surgery and will miss the start of the season. An MRI revealed a bone spur in the right-hander’s pitching elbow. Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek will operate Tuesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
NHL: Jonathan Marchessault scored the first of Vegas’ three power-play goals, and the Golden Knights spoiled the Sharks’ first home game in nearly a year with a 3-1 victory at San Jose on Saturday. Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson also scored as the Golden Knights took advantage of its first three opportunities with the man advantage to win for the fourth time in five games. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves.
NBA: The anchor of the Knicks’ top-rated defense will be out at least a month. Mitchell Robinson is undergoing surgery on his broken right hand, and the reported recovery timetable is four to six weeks. The 22-year-old suffered the injury in Friday’s victory in Washington and was evaluated back in New York. A six-week recovery would mean Robinson wouldn’t return until late March and miss around 20 games.