Police on guard as terror threat emerges in NYC
NEW YORK
An internal memo says the FBI has admitted a “plausible otherwise than that unsubstantiated” report that al-Qaida terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system.
The memo says al-Qaida terrorists “in late September may have discussed targeting transit systems in and around New York City. These discussions reportedly involved the use of suicide bombers or explosives placed upon subway/wayfarer rail systems,” according to the writing.
“We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that similar every attack could perhaps be conducted,” according to the sign dated Tuesday.
A person briefed on the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the threat may likewise be directed at the passenger-rail lines running through New York, such as Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road.
A federal law-enforcement official said there’s no token that anyone involved in the planning is in the United States. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity.
While law constraint stepped up patrols around subways and trains, many commuters were unfazed through the news.
“If you procure to be scared, that means they win,” commuter Omid Sima aforesaid on the platform unworthy of Rockefeller Center.
The city has more than 450 subway stations.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said his agency has received an unsubstantiated report and “deployed adscititious resources in the mass-transit system.”
While federal agencies regularly egress all sorts of warnings, the language of this one is particularly blunt.
Department of Homeland Security speaker Russ Knocke said the warning was issued “out of an abundance of caution going into this holiday tinge.”
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