Officer Sean Collier

The FBI did the right thing by releasing photos of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last year, even though it led to the death of an MIT police officer.

The Associated Press reports that Stephanie Douglas, an executive assistant director of the FBI’s Security Division, said law enforcement “really had no choice” but to release the photos of Dzhohkar Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan.

While on the run, the brothers killed MIT Officer Sean Collier.

“Believe me, the death of Sean Collier is not lost on the FBI,” she said. “But I think at the end of the day, given the facts as we knew them at the time, we made the best decision.”

Steve Neavling

A new FBI headquarters in Maryland would inject an estimated $2 billion and 11,000 jobs into the economy, the Associated Press reports.

Top officials are scheduled to promote moving the FBI office to Prince George’s County.

Scheduled to attend are Gov. Martin O’Malley, Rep. Steny Hoyer and Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin.

Several areas are competing to land the FBI headquarters, saying it would boost the economy.

Steve Neavling

A Justice Department investigation is to reveal this week that the FBI used appropriate force by fatally shooting Ibragim Todashev, a Chechen man tied to one of the brothers accused in the Boston Marathon bombings.

The Washington Post reports that the report will clear the agent, but a Florida prosecutor warned that the probe is not concluded.

The investigation is to indicate that Todashev 27, a mixed martial-arts fighter, used a metal pole to attack an FBI agent after implicating himself in the unsolved 2011 triple murder, the Post reported, citing anonymous sources.

The agent acted in self-defense, the report is to conclude.

What remains unclear is whether the agent was alone during the shooting.

Steve Neavling

A popular Rhode Island state lawmaker is resigning from his leadership role and won’t run for re-election after the FBI raided his home and public office, the Associated Press reports.

Gordon Fox, a 52-year-old Democrat who has been House speaker since 2010, said he will step down from his leadership post but will serve out the remainder of his term.

“My personal focus going forward will be on my family and dealing with the investigation,” Fox said.

Fox became the nation’s first openly gay House speaker.

‘‘Because of the respect I have for all members of the House of Representatives, I am resigning as Speaker,’’ Fox said in a written statement emailed to reporters. ‘‘The process of governing must continue and the transition of leadership must be conducted in an orderly manner.’’

Steve Neavling

California may no longer be the nation’s bank robbery capital.

The Latin Post reports that the FBI’s L.A. office, which includes seven counties, is handling far fewer bank robbery cases than in the past.

Robberies peaked in the early 1990s, with as many as 28 bank robberies a day in the counties of  Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange County, Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo.

That has dropped to 212 robberies a year – or fewer than one a day.

FBI officials said they were surprised.

“I was flabbergasted when we broke 400. Then we broke 300,” FBI Special Agent Stephen May, who works as the bureau’s bank robbery coordinator for the region, said.

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