WASHINGTON — The FBI field office in Hawaii has a new special agent in charge.

On May 10, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Steven Merrill would take the helm in Honolulu where he will lead the agency’s investigations into federal crimes.

Hawaii’s FBI field office has a new boss. Anthony Quintano/Civil Beat

Merrill began his career at the FBI as a forensic scientist in 1991 and later moved to San Francisco, where, as an agent, he helped in the investigation and prosecution of Theodore Kaczynski, otherwise known as the Unabomber.

Merrill has worked both inside and outside the U.S. According to the FBI, he was the first agency agent to respond to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed more than 170 people.

He has supervised investigations into public corruption, civil rights violations and antitrust.

Prior to his assignment in Hawaii, Merrill was the financial crimes section chief in the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.

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