September 2005

Eric Lamoe
FBI Agent

Every month, members of The Conservative Forum of Silicon Valley Meet to Listen to Interesting Guest Speakers

Eric Lamoe, an FBI agent, addressed our Conservative Forum on the subject of terrorism. He talked about the fine line that the FBI has to walk between catching terrorists and the civil rights of Americans. He is confident and optimistic about the progress that the United States is making on a daily basis against terrorism.

As a matter of fact, Eric indicated that we have gained ground every day since September 11, 2001. He has no doubts that there are "bad guys" in the United States desirous of doing harm to Americans. At the same time, FBI agents and the respective police departments, with the help of American citizens, are disrupting potential terrorists' acts on a regular basis.

Despite Santa Clara County's image as the center of Silicon Valley, Eric did not consider this a high-risk area for terrorism. He indicated that the terrorists feel they can best intimidate us by hitting high profile targets like the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the United States Capitol, the White House, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Transamerica Tower, not the Tech Museum or the Winchester Mystery House.

When asked how we as citizens can be helpful, he requested that we distinguish between the 12,000 FBI agents and the bureaucracy in Washington. He further encouraged us to be tolerant of those neighbors different from us. The greater the confidence that the communities build with each other will enhance the likelihood that those communities will turn in a "bad guy". Eric Lamoe was interesting and candid. He spoke as an FBI agent, not as a politician.

Return to Speaker Series Page