LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Friday will mark 25 years since the Sept. 11 attacks, which changed how America fights terrorism. FBI Las Vegas leadership says national security in the city is a top priority.
Las Vegas does not have skyscrapers, but it has hotels, tourist spots and major events. FBI Las Vegas leadership said 9/11 changed their approach to national security.
Following every lead
Jeremy Schwartz, assistant special agent in charge of FBI Las Vegas, said after 9/11, the agency had information that the hijackers had movement in Las Vegas.
“After 9/11, we had information that the terrorists had movement in Las Vegas — despite the fact that several of those folks died on the plane, we still followed every lead, tracking those movements, because what we want to know is: are there other co-conspirators, other people to help them, other people unwitting or supporting them, and are still living in our city in Las Vegas. And we want to make sure we hold those people accountable,” Schwartz said.
When Schwartz started his career in Texas, terrorism was not part of the job. He said it never stops now.
“Nowadays something comes from Washington, D.C. — ‘Hey, Las Vegas, we need you to work on something, cover this lead’ — and we will work with our partners to make sure they are in tune with what we are doing, especially if there’s any threat to terrorism or this country,” Schwartz said.
Asked what keeps him up at night, Schwartz said it is the potential to miss something.
“I think what keeps me up at night, and many of us in the FBI, is the potential to miss something. Hey, we got a little bit of info, and it sounded ridiculous at the time — we can’t allow that,” Schwartz said.
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Threats from anywhere
Nathaniel Holland, assistant special agent in charge of FBI Las Vegas, said terrorism is a threat that can come from anywhere.
“Jan. 1, 2025, the night before, I had a team of 40 or 50 people, a full command post, just making sure nothing happened throughout the city. We went home around 3 a.m., and we were back at work by 11 a.m.,” Holland said.
Holland was referring to Matthew Livelsberger, who drove up to Trump Tower Las Vegas and detonated a Cybertruck on New Year’s Day, hours after crowds left the Strip. Livelsberger died in the explosion. FBI Las Vegas followed every lead tied to him.
Asked what goes through his mind when handling cases that could be associated with terrorism, Holland said officials take a calm approach.
“A calm approach — we try to analyze and figure out: is it a priority threat? Is it something that is a threat to life? Is someone saying ‘we want to shoot up a school or blow up a casino’ — something that’s a direct threat here. It’s all hands on deck,” Holland said.
Officials said they are constantly working with each other and other field offices to fight threats.
A day that shaped careers
FBI leaders have spent decades in federal law enforcement, but 9/11 has impacted them even before they wore a badge.
Christopher Delzotto, special agent in charge of FBI Las Vegas, said he was watching the attacks from afar.
“Evil kind of became a reality for me,” Delzotto said.
Delzotto has childhood ties to the New York area, and when he was asked how 9/11 shaped the rest of his career, he said it was one of the reasons he ended up working for the FBI.
“I considered military — but I wound up in the FBI. As fate would have it, I wound up most of my career working a couple blocks from the World Trade Center, where our New York field office is,” Delzotto said.
Benjamin Inman, another assistant special agent in charge at FBI Las Vegas, said the day was sobering.
“It was a very sobering moment. About two years later, I was in the police academy, starting my law enforcement career,” Inman said.
Inman said 9/11 changed how law enforcement views threats.
“9/11 was a fundamental shift across all of law enforcement — moving into a more intelligence-focused approach. Law enforcement, police officers, they’re the first line of collectors of information, all the way up to the federal level — restructuring of the intelligence community,” Inman said.
Delzotto said the attacks were a turning point at the FBI.
“For the FBI, it was a huge turning point for our agency in terms of intelligence sharing. We went from not-as-robust intelligence-sharing efforts amongst the U.S. intelligence community to now — where any and all of those threats are shared daily,” Delzotto said.
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