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Retired agent Tym Burkey served 20 years with the FBI. While in the Cincinnati Division at the Dayton Resident Agency, he worked violent crime and domestic terrorism matters and was assigned a case targeting the Aryan Nations, which at the time was considered to be the most dangerous white supremacist group in the United States. In this episode of FBI Retired Case File Review, Tym Burkey reviews how his informant Dave Hall infiltrated the violent neo-Nazi organization. The intelligence gathered by Hall led to the disruption and dismantling of the Aryan Nations’ leadership. Later in his career, Tym Burkey began working counterintelligence investigations and was transferred to the Albuquerque Division where he was assigned to the Sandia National Laboratories and supervised the Albuquerque Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). After retiring from the FBI, Tym Burkey co-wrote with Dave Hall a narrative account of their Aryan Nations case. Their book, Into the Devil’s Den: How an FBI Informant Got Inside the Aryan Nations and a Special Agent Got Him Out Alive, is a true-life thriller and a testament to bravery, dedication, and friendship. It’s also a timely reminder that America’s homegrown terrorists can be just as deadly as those from overseas.
Special Agent (Retired)
Tym Burkey
6/16/91 – 6/17/2011
The following are links to news articles about the Aryan Nations and information about the domestic threat of violent extremist groups posted on the FBI website and on the websites of non-profit organizations exposing and combatting hate:
FBI Website – Domestic Threat, White Supremacy Extremism
FBI Website – Why Do People Become Violent Extremists?
The Dayton Jewish Observer – The fall of the Aryan Nations
ADL – Aryan Nations/Church of Jesus Christ Christian
Southern Poverty Law Center – Aryan Nations — once the best-known white supremacy group in the country – has all but faded into racist history
Thanks for this interview, Jerri. What a hero the informant in this case is!
Of course the agent and that attorney he mentioned are doing amazing jobs. But too often those who are already being socially, emotionally, and financially rewarded on a regular basis are the ones that receive most of the credit, while not necessarily recognizing or showing gratitude for the privileges and daily support that enable them to get those jobs done. The informant, here, therefore, to me, is the real hero (ahh!! too many commas :). Not having the (dare I say) intelligence to recognize the informant’s bravery and the price he was paying for his generosity of spirit and his goodness = because he had one prior charge?! — is, in my view, too often a problem in law enforcement. Yet the agent is very proud to have gotten a judge to defer (not cancel, but defer) the jail time the informant would still have to serve. Yes, the agent did say he regretted not noticing the toll the informant was paying, but that’s exactly the problem. Its a problem with the culture of usually hyper-masculine-identified law enforcement to actively not notice or discuss these tolls. Happy to hear a successful recovery for that noble informant.
You are so right. The success of many FBI cases is based on the cooperation of informants and witnesses. Their willingness to assist is often at a risk to their livelihoods and, in some circumstances, even lives. Thank you for listening.