Director Christopher Wray has named Michael McPherson as the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office in Florida. Mr. McPherson has been serving as the acting deputy assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Mr. McPherson joined the FBI as a special agent in 1997. He was first assigned to the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force in the New York Field Office, investigating Colombian drug trafficking organizations. In 2004, he was transferred to the San Juan Field Office in Puerto Rico, where he served on the Violent Crimes Task Force. He was a member of the SWAT team in New York and San Juan.

Mr. McPherson was promoted to a supervisory special agent in 2005 and served in the Counterterrorism Division at Headquarters. He became a unit chief and provided oversight of U.S.-based international terrorism investigations for one region of the country. He transferred to the Tampa Field Office in 2008 as the supervisor of the Joint Terrorism Task Force for Domestic Terrorism.

Mr. McPherson was named an assistant special agent in charge at the Washington Field Office in 2015, supervising U.S.-based international terrorism investigations in Washington and Northern Virginia. He was transferred back to Headquarters in 2016 as a section chief in the Counterterrorism Division. He provided support, coordination, and oversight of the FBI’s U.S.-based international terrorism investigations. He also served as the division’s acting deputy assistant director.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. McPherson served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 10 years. He is a certified intelligence officer and is fluent in Spanish.