Law Enforcement Officials Remain On Alert From Coast To Coast Ahead Of July 4 Weekend
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Law enforcement authorities remains on alert from coast to coast over concerns that July 4 weekend could be tempting motivation for homegrown terrorists.
Fueling those fears are recent arrests on the East Coast, and continuing pleas from supporters of the Islamic State group to take up arms in the United States.
While officials in Southern California say there's no evidence of a specific attack being planned for the holiday, there is reason for concern with three overseas terrorist attacks last week.
Over the past year, as KCAL9's Dave Bryan reports, 50 terrorist suspects have been arrested, one of whom made a court appearance Monday.
That suspect, identified as Alaa Saadeh, appeared in a federal courtroom in Newark, N.J., where he was charged with providing material support to ISIS.
A criminal complaint alleges Saadeh said in a recorded conversation that he supports the terrorist group ISIS "… including its use of beheadings and mass killings to impose its violent agenda." He was the fifth person arrested recently in connection with terrorism-related charges in New York and New Jersey.
The arrests come at a time of heightened concern about a terrorist attack in the U.S. during the fourth of July holiday weekend.
"I would say that this is the most serious level of threat I've seen since September 11th," said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., a member of the House Homeland Security committee.
King said he's worried about "lone wolf" attacks, which is why at the NYPD, it will be all hands on deck July 4.
"We see ourselves as the target. We understand that. We accept that. And we're going to prevent against it," said James Waters of the NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau.
But, as Bryan reports, the concern extends far beyond the borders of New York.
Deputy Chief Michael Downing of the Los Angeles Police Department says that although there is no evidence of a specific attack planned in L.A. for the Fourth, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned.
"It is a concern because of the increased threats that we've had because of the increased threat stream that we've had because of the attacks that we've recently seen in France and Tunisia and Kuwait," said Downing, who is also the commanding officer of the Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau. "It's a national holiday. It's iconic. It's symbolic. It really represents everything that we believe in and everything that ISIS and ISIL would like to destroy."
In a debriefing on "CBS This Morning," former CIA Deputy Director and current CBS Senior Security Correspondent Michael Morell agreed that one of the biggest concerns is "lone wolf" terrorists who are responding to ISIS' online video recruitment.
"They're being radicalized in their bedrooms. In their basements. They're communicating with ISIS. On the Internet, ISIS is telling them, 'Don't tell anybody about our conversations.' It's very difficult to see them until they take action to do something," he said.
Former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, now the police commissioner in New York, says that's what concerns him the most.
"What we're always worried about is not so much what we know, but what we don't know," he said.
With more and more "lone wolf" ISIS recruits across the country, the LAPD says the usual intelligence channels aren't always effective, which is why the department is emphasizing the need for the public to report suspicious activity, both seen and heard.