FILTERS TO AT LEAST 2500 CUSTOMERS. THE FBI IS BEEFING UP ITS RANKS TO TARGET HATE CRIMES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. ITS DIRECTOR WAS IN BIRMINGHAM TO ADDRESS THE CITY’S CIVIL RIGHTS CONFERENCE. TODAY, WVTM 13 S JON PAEPCKE JOINING US LIVE FROM 16TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH TONIGHT, JOHN, HOW MUCH TIME DID THE DIRECTOR SPEND TALKING ABOUT THE BOMBING INVESTIGATION IN. WELL, SHERRI, THE DIRECTOR DIRECTOR ACTUALLY SPENT ABOUT A THIRD OF HIS SPEECH COVERING THE ACTIONS OF THE FBI TO HOLD THE MEN ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE DEATH OF THE FOUR LITTLE GIRLS. WHAT DELAYED THE JUSTICE IN THIS CASE ORIGINALLY? AND WHAT BREAKS DELIVERED IT IN THE END, DECADES LATER, WHEN FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY TOOK THE STAGE AT THE 16TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH THIS MORNING, HE WASTED NO TIME REFERENCING THE BLAST WHICH ROCKED THE HOUSE OF WORSHIP AND THE BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY TO THE CORE. 19 STICKS OF DYNAMITE EXPLODED, ADDED SHAKING THE FOUNDATION OF THIS SANCTUARY, SENDING GLASS AND CONCRETE FLYING, KNOCKING MOST OF THE CONGREGATION TO THE GROUND AND KILLING, KILLING THOSE CLOSEST TO THE EXPLOSION. FOUR LITTLE GIRLS WERE KILLED, SEVERAL OTHERS INJURED. THE FBI ULTIMATELY IDENTIFIED THE FOUR KU KLUX KLAN MEMBERS BEHIND THE EXPLOSION THROUGH THOUSANDS OF INTERVIEWS AND SURVEILLANCE. EVEN WITH ALL THAT WITNESSES WEREN’T FORTHCOMING. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE WAS INCONCLUSIVE, AND UNDER FEDERAL LAWS AT THE TIME, OUR SURVEILLANCE RECORDINGS WERE NOT ALLOWED IN COURT. THREE DECADES LATER, THOUGH, COMMUNITY DYNAMICS HAD CHANGED. AND WRAY SAID WHEN BOBBY FRANK CHERRY HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER THEY INTERVIEWED HIM, THE INVESTIGATIVE FLOODGATES OPENED. RIGHT AFTER THAT PRESS CONFERENCE, OUR PHONES STARTED RINGING OFF THE HOOK WITH TIPS FROM WITNESSES IMPLICATING CHERRY. CHERRY WAS LATER CONVICTED AND DIED IN PRISON IN 2004. WRAY USED THE BOMBING INVESTIGATION TO ILLUSTRATE HOW FAR THE FBI HAS GONE, AND IS WILLING TO GO TO HOLD HATE FILLED CRIMINALS ACCOUNTABLE. I SEE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND COMMUNITY LEADERS HERE AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY WORKING TOGETHER WITH A COMMON VISION OF JUSTICE, A VISION HE CLAIMED IS AS IMPORTANT NOW AS IT WAS 61 YEARS AGO. NOW, DIRECTOR WRAY SAYS THEY HAVE MORE THAN 200 AGENTS AND ANALYSTS THAT ACTUALLY SPECIFICALLY FOCUS ON HATE CRIMES AND CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. IN FACT, HE SAID LAST YEAR THEY CHARGED MORE PEOPLE WITH HATE CRIMES THAN ANY OTHER YEAR SINCE 2000. LIVE IN BIRMINGH