Las Vegas billboards warn of transnational repression, FBI says

The FBI is unveiling billboards across the Las Vegas Valley in an effort to raise awareness of transnational repression.

Transnational repression, a threat that Las Vegas’ top FBI agent said has “increased exponentially over the past several years,” happens when foreign governments try to silence their political opponents in other countries.

“In short, it tends to be people an authoritarian government wants to silence, coerce, or control because their words are perceived as a threat to the existence of the regime,” said Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas field office, describing the crime’s victims.

Speaking during a news conference Thursday alongside the top federal prosecutor in Nevada and a Clear Channel executive at the Las Vegas FBI building, Evans said the main focus of the billboard campaign, which began Thursday in the Las Vegas Valley, is to educate the public about a crime that is underreported because of its disproportionate impact on immigrants and others visiting the U.S.

Victims include political and human rights activists, journalists, dissidents, and religious or ethnic minority groups, Evans said. Tactics run the gamut from hacking to stalking to attempted kidnapping or murder, he said.

“Repression tactics such as threats, harassment, surveillance, intimidation on behalf of another country will not and cannot be tolerated,” added Jason Frierson, the U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada.

In the U.S., transnational repression has come from China and Iran. Other countries known to use transnational repression are Russia and North Korea.

One of the most notorious instances of transnational repression in recent years was the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed by agents of the Saudi government inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018.

Multiple examples of transnational repression in the U.S. are listed on the FBI’s website.

In April, the FBI announced that 44 people were facing charges in connection with the Chinese government’s efforts to harass Chinese nationals living in the New York City area as well as elsewhere in the U.S.

Also in April, the FBI announced that two people were facing charges for their role in the operation of an illegal, clandestine police station in Lower Manhattan for a provincial branch of China’s Ministry of Public Security.

In March 2022, the FBI announced that five people were facing charges in connection with a campaign to harass, stalk and spy on U.S. residents on behalf of China’s secret police.

Evans said Las Vegas is an effective venue for such billboards not just because of the local community, but also because millions of people from all over the world visit the city every year.

Adam Barthelmess, president of Clear Channel Outdoor in Las Vegas, said more than 80 billboards in the Las Vegas Valley were visible starting at noon Thursday. The billboards were donated by Clear Channel.

“We have existing investigations that are looking into this that have impacted the state of Nevada, and we want to make sure that we can get a message to victims because we suspect there are more that we are not aware of,” Evans said.

It’s the latest billboard campaign from the local office of the FBI. In February, the FBI announced the unveiling of billboards urging people to report public corruption.

When asked how successful that campaign was in generating tips or cases, Evans said Thursday that the campaign was “helpful” but declined to be specific. He said that when he would talk to law enforcement or community groups, he would hear about the billboards’ impact.

“Like every campaign, it kind of runs its course, and then it was time to switch it up to something else,” Evans said.

Evans stressed another point: The First Amendment right to free speech doesn’t just apply to U.S. citizens, but to anybody inside the nation’s borders.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.