One day after the latest lone-wolf terror attack in London, FBI Director James Comey talked terrorism Thursday and what the U.S. is doing to prevent it.
- Comey spoke at University of Texas at Austin
- Comey: FBI currently investigating about 1,000 terrorism cases
- Did not discuss Russian hacking or election tampering
"Worrying about where is the person who may be bent on the next San Bernadino, the next Orlando attack. Will anybody close to them tell us what they see so that we can get on it?" asked Comey.
Comey told his listeners at the University of Texas at Austin that currently the FBI is investigating about 1,000 terrorism cases in the U.S., where it's difficult to distinguish who is capable of carrying out terroristic threats.
"Where is somebody on the spectrum between consuming the poison and acting on the poison? And what makes this so hard for us is how do we see them and how do we assess them in a good way," he said.
The nation's seventh FBI director did not talk about the agency's investigation into Russia's hacking and election tampering, but he did touch on the clashing intersection of public safety and privacy.
He says even the technology of a cell phone can slow down an investigation.
"2,800 devices were presented to the FBI examiners by our agents or state and local partners with court orders to open them. 43 percent of them we could not open with any technique, including classified techniques," said Comey.
However, Comey says it's not up to the FBI to choose where the laws on privacy start and end.
"The American people should decide how they live and so my mission is to make sure people understand the work of the FBI in counter-terrorism, counter-intelligence, all our criminal work is being significantly affected by this," he said.