FBI Director Kash Patel is scheduled to appear Monday at a national sheriffs’ conference in Fort Lauderdale, just 48 hours after the U.S. military attacked nuclear facilities in Iran, triggering a worldwide security alert.
Patel’s appearance at the annual National Sheriffs’ Association conference at the Broward County Convention Center was booked well in advance of President Donald Trump’s decision to dispatch bombers to Iran.
The sheriffs’ association did not identify the topic of Patel’s talk.
But now, the FBI, which operates a counterterrorism division, is likely a central player in U.S. Government efforts to help deflect retaliation efforts by the Iranian government as analysts have cited terrorist acts as one of the options it might undertake in response to the U.S. attack.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department issued a worldwide security advisory for travelers and American citizens abroad.
“The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East,” the advisory said. “There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.”
South Florida presence
It will be Patel’s second public appearance in Broward County in slightly more than two months. In April, he appeared in Fort Lauderdale with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to publicize the seizure of 48,400 pounds of cocaine and marijuana that were offloaded at Port Everglades by the U.S. Coast Guard, which valued the haul at $509 million.
“This is what it looks like when a United States whole-of-government approach brings every resource to bear,” Patel said at the time. “They are going to get all the drugs off the streets, off the markets and we are going to lock them up.”
“This is what happens when you let good cops be cops,” Patel added on his X social media account.
Patel, 45, became the ninth director of the FBI on Feb. 20, according to his agency biography. A New York native, he holds a bachelors degree in criminal justice and history from the University of Richmond. He earned his law degree at Pace University School of Law in New York.
Patel began his legal career in 2005 in South Florida, serving as an assistant state public defender in Miami-Dade County, and starting in 2009, as an assistant federal defender for the Southern District of Florida. He tried cases before juries involving murder, narco-trafficking and financial crimes.
In 2014, he started with the Department of Justice as a national security prosecutor during the Obama Administration, “where he led investigations spanning multiple theaters of conflict and oversaw the successful prosecution of al-Qaida, ISIS, and other terrorist actors,” according to his FBI biography.
He later served as national security adviser and senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
During the first Trump Administration, he served as a deputy assistant to the president on the National Security Council, responsible for overseeing “interagency implementation of the national counterterrorism strategy.”
Four-day conference
The sheriffs’ conference, which starts Monday and is set to conclude Thursday, is expected to draw several thousand officers from around the U.S.
Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., the National Sheriffs’ Association “is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising the level of professionalism among sheriffs, their deputies, and others in the field of criminal justice and public safety so that they may perform their jobs in the best possible manner and better serve the people of their cities, counties or jurisdictions,” according to the organization’s website.
Those attending the conference have access to a long menu of sessions pertaining to topics including deputies’ health, recruitment, legal matters, correctional facility policies, leadership, forensics and labor and human trafficking.
Also, the convention center exhibition hall is host to a variety of vendors displaying their goods, from security hardware to avoid mass-shooting events, vehicles for response teams, and law enforcement communication devices, systems and weapons.
A homeland security certification program is also available in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.