The head of the FBI’s Dallas office is retiring after more than 20 years with the Bureau.
Tuesday, Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew DeSarno spoke with reporters about the major cases he's been involved with and what he believes is our biggest threat.
From the church shooting in White Settlement in December 2019, to more than 40 arrests after the January 6th attack, DeSarno has led the FBI Dallas Field Office through many crises.
“That brand of extremism was present in our AOR [area of responsibility], we knew it was present, but we saw the scope of it,” DeSarno said about the January 6th investigations, specifically the arrest of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and the conviction of Seth Pendley, arrested after attempting to obtain an explosive device from an undercover FBI employee in Fort Worth.
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Now, after three-and-a-half years in Dallas, DeSarno announced he's retiring.
“For me, this has been the best job I could ever imagine having,” said DeSarno.
DeSarno joined the FBI at age 29, following in his father's footsteps.
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“I always wanted to be in the FBI. My father was an FBI agent,” said DeSarno.
DeSarno faced his first major crisis just a couple weeks after arriving in Dallas when a gunman opened fire at Earle Cabell Federal Courthouse in June 2019.
His most recent major case was the hostage situation at a Colleyville synagogue.
“Let me be clear. This was both a hate crime and an act of terrorism,” DeSarno said at a press conference in the days that followed the hours-long standoff.
This week, Tommy Williams, the man who sold Malik Akram the gun he used in the standoff, was sentenced.
“He was a felon, he sold guns, he admitted to selling a lot of guns and he got 95 years in prison,” said DeSarno.
In his final interview before retiring, DeSarno revealed his biggest concerns for our country.
“Cyber in general, that's both criminal and national security cyber, and then the efforts, the ongoing, overt efforts of the Chinese Communist Party to replace the United States as the global power,” said DeSarno.
He says China's goal is to do that by the year 2049 and, “If they can accelerate that they will,” continued DeSarno.
After 20 years with the Bureau, DeSarno is taking a job in the private sector and says he's hopeful for the future of the FBI.
“I'm fully confident that 20 years from now the FBI will be much better than the FBI that I was in,” he said.
DeSarno’s last day is Oct. 31. His successor has not been named.
