FBI sees surge in tips from public

The FBI saw a major increase in tips in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio — suggesting public awareness and concern about domestic terrorism spiked in the wake of those incidents.

In the first week following those attacks on Aug. 3 and 4, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received more than 38,000 tips from the public. In an average week in 2019, the NTOC receives about 22,000 such tips, although the number fluctuates.

This month, local police and the FBI made a number of arrests of people in cases whose statements or stockpiles of weapons concerned authorities that those individuals might be planning attacks. Those arrests prompted questions about whether the government had decided to get more aggressive in pursuing potential domestic terror suspects in the wake of El Paso and Dayton.

The tip data, however, suggests the public is more engaged, leading to more law enforcement scrutiny.

“Such increases are often observed after major incidents,” the FBI said. As always, the FBI encourages the public to remain vigilant and report any and all suspicious activity ...”

The FBI has three primary channels for receiving such tips — their toll free number, 1-800-Call-FBI, www.tips.fbi.gov, and calls to their local field offices.

The type and quality of the tips the FBI receives vary widely, and officials could not gauge how much of the increase are people providing useful information.

The El Paso and Dayton attacks, which killed 31 people, have intensified the political debates surrounding mass shootings on contentious issues like gun control, white extremist violence, and mental health treatment.

In one recent case, the ex-girlfriend of Tristan S. Wix called local police in Florida about his alleged threats of committing a mass shooting.

The Daytona Beach resident was arrested after he allegedly told his girlfriend he wanted to reach “a good 100 kills” and that he had already selected an ideal target where he could “open fire on a large crowd of people from over three miles away.”