- Several U.S. senators correctly are calling FBI agent
Coleen Rowley a hero.
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- But despite kind words from powerful people, what sort
of a future does this Minneapolis agent face in the FBI?
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- A scene Wednesday outside FBI headquarters in Washington,
D.C., offered a chilling clue. Swarms of television news crews were waiting
for Rowley to leave the building, She stepped out into the mass of cameras,
apparently unescorted. With all of the resources of the mighty FBI just
a few feet away, Rowley was left to fend for herself. There was no FBI
vehicle to pick her up and sweep her away. Instead, she was jostled and
bumped in the media chaos as she tried to hail a cab.
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- She handled the situation with as much grace as possible,
even warning camera operators to be careful, lest they be struck by passing
cars.
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- Finally a security guard outside the FBI building and
a passing civilian helped her find a taxi.
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- She must have understood the message the FBI seemed to
be delivering: Senators may be calling you a hero, lady, but in our world,
you're on your own.
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- WCCO-TV reporter Randi Kaye was among those in the media
horde. She said that even the crustiest Washington photojournalists were
stunned by the sight of Rowley stranded.
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- "I was talking to photographers who have been doing
stakeouts like this for years," Kaye said. "They said they've
never seen somebody treated like this. . . . In the end, they [photojournalists]
were trying to watch out for her a little, because she was watching out
for them. I think they felt sorry for her."
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- Sen. Paul Wellstone has tried to do what he can to protect
Rowley's career. He's written a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft
telling him that Rowley must be "protected from any kind of reprisal."
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- But Ashcroft hasn't exactly been reassuring. In a recent
television interview, he had to be asked about protecting Rowley several
times before he muttered that she won't be fired.
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- For the moment, Rowley surely will be protected because
she's a full-blown celebrity.
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- Not only are politicians from both parties singing her
praises, but the D.C. media are charmed by this self-assured agent. One
Washington paper even ran a "style" piece about Rowley, noting
affectionately that she doesn't bother with such things as a purse, but
rather wears a little pack strapped around her waist beneath her suit jacket.
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- Until the next big headline, Rowley is the country's
supercop -- braver than a whole bureau of mighty G-men -- because she put
duty above personal comfort.
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- Minneapolis police Inspector Lucy Gerold is struck by
the fact that it's a woman who had the courage to step forward and speak
truth to the bureaucracy. She said she agreed with something she recently
read saying that women are more likely to take such steps because they
"aren't part of the inner circle in the first place."
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- Gerold doesn't know what Rowley's long-term future in
the FBI will be but believes that in the short term she'll be comfortable
back in the Minneapolis office, which is headed by Deborah Pierce.
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- "The thing that gives me confidence about what will
happen [with Rowley] is that Deb has tremendous integrity and is a woman,"
Gerold said.
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- Rowley hasn't said what her goals and aspirations are
within the FBI. It's been reported that she could be eligible for retirement
in about 2 1/2 years.
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- Wellstone, who spent considerable time with Rowley before
the private and public hearings, said that she has disarmed Washington
-- except for the FBI -- because "she's without cynicism or an agenda."
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- "She has a strong belief in law enforcement and
a strong belief that something went wrong," Wellstone said. "That's
all that mattered to her."
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- But Wellstone is a realist about what could lie ahead
for Rowley -- and for others who might be inspired by her courage.
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- "The real question is not what happens today or
tomorrow," Wellstone said. "It's what happens in the next year
or two, or after that. That's always the case with whistleblowers. It's
going to be important for us to remain vigilant in her case."
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- When the rest of us aren't looking, today's hero could
be assigned to a very isolated place.
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- Doug Grow is at dgrow@startribune.com
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- http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/2889942.html
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