TOM DIAZ
Tom Diaz is a lawyer, author, former journalist, and a public speaker.
He is the author of the forthcoming book, No Boundaries—Transnational Latino
Gangs and American Law Enforcement (University of Michigan Press: June 2009).
He co-authored Lightning Out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil
(Random House, 2005) (with Barbara Newman), which details the history of the
Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, documents Hezbollah operatives in the
United States, and describes the successful investigation and prosecution of a
Hezbollah support cell in Charlotte, NC. He wrote Making a Killing: The Business of
Guns in America (The New Press, January 1999), an in-depth examination of the
firearms industry and its effects on public health and safety.
In 2007 Diaz was a consultant to the National Strategy Information Center’s
Democratic Security in the Americas Project. (The NSIC is a small “think tank” in
Washington). The project explored threats, including armed groups and
transnational criminal organizations, to democratic governance in the Americas.
Diaz was counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s
Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice from 1993 to 1997. As the lead
Democratic counsel in the House on firearms and terrorism, he staffed hearings and
legislation on those subjects. Before working for Congress, Diaz studied and wrote
about terrorism and international organized crime at the NSIC. He was an assistant
managing editor at The Washington Times newspaper for six years and covered
national security affairs for three years before that.
Diaz is currently senior policy analyst at the Violence Policy Center in Washington,
where he researches and writes about firearms and firearms violence. He has
consulted with the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice on high
technology, crime, and law enforcement, and wrote for The Police Chief
magazine.
He has worked as an independent consultant for television
documentaries on international terrorism, violent domestic militias, and criminal
gangs in the military. Diaz has appeared on national electronic media (including
60 Minutes, Dateline, FOX News, MSNBC Investigative Reports, and CNN)and in print
outlets.
He is currently researching a book on “sophisticated means” of investigation.
June 28, 2016