GBI director confirms active terror investigations in Georgia

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The head of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says agents have active terror investigations underway in the state of Georgia right now.

GBI director Vernon Keenan sat down exclusively with Channel 2's Mark Winne in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Paris, France.

Keenan delivered a sentiment as chilling as this week's cold snap: many law enforcement officials have long expected something like what happened in France, to happen in this country.

Keenan says the GBI has agents assigned to the FBI-led joint terrorism task force in Georgia. He says what has played out in France in recent days is not a foreign concept to our state’s counter-terror authorities.

“The scenario, the acts that occurred in France are a major worry that the same thing could happen in the United States and the state of Georgia,” Keenan told Winne.

Keenan says the while there is still much to learn about their backgrounds, the two brothers with reported ties to terror networks suspected in the murders of 12 in France remind him of concerns here at home. He says authorities in the U.S. have long been worried about self-radicalization, or terrorists-in-waiting who find their inspiration on the internet and the like.

“There are individuals in the state of Georgia that we have concerns about and that are monitored by the federal authorities and by the GBI as we work with our federal authorities. Many of these individuals have not committed violations of the law yet but they are a concern to law enforcement,” Keenan said.

The Associated Press reports that a Yemeni security official said one of the Kouachi brothers killed in France was suspected of fighting for al-Qaida in Yemen.

Keenan said the so-called foreign fighters, who are self-radicalized and then go overseas to join terror groups, are a big concern here.

“How many people have left the United States, left the state of Georgia, gone overseas, been trained by terrorists and now  have returned back to the United States and are somewhere in the communities?” Keenan asked.

Keenan says he does not know the answer to that, but that unknown is part of the danger. He says the frightening prospect with self-radicalized terrorists is that they don’t need to be sent on a mission by some boss in a foreign country. They can send themselves.

He says the most dangerous scenario is when somebody self-radicalizes then becomes a foreign fighter and returns home a trained terrorist.

WSBTV