Gelios with our staff.

DEARBORN — At a meeting with The Arab American News staff on Monday, FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Detroit division, David Gelios, discussed civil rights and public safety concerns with the newspaper, mostly off the record. 

Asked on the record if there are any special surveillance or policing programs targeting the local Arab American community, he said: “Absolutely not.”

Gelios said the FBI conducts case-based, subject-specific investigations and does not target groups because of their religious affiliation or place of
origin.

He denied ethnic or religious profiling.

“There’s nothing the FBI does in this regard,” he said. “As the boss of our office, I’d be opposed to it.”

Gelios stressed the importance of the relationships the Bureau has developed with the community. 

He said he is confident that if there is a known threat here, someone would come forward to report it.