In September 2017, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced that his agency had a 1,000 open domestic terrorism cases and an equal number of homegrown violent extremist investigations, such as individuals aligned with ISIS. After high-profile terror attacks media reports abound that police may have had prior contact with the perpetrators.
FBI terror investigations consist of three different levels of inquiry: an assessment, preliminary investigation, and a full investigation. What the FBI may do during these variant processes in relation to the terror suspect broaden as greater concerns on the individual take hold.