A recent internal FBI report warns federal, state and local authorities to be alert for a potential new tool in the jihadi terror arsenal the placing of suspicious, but harmless, bags in public places to inspire fear, disrupt public transportation and tie up police and bomb squads.
An explosives disposal technician inspects the contents of a suspicious package 24 September 2007 left on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 17th Street, near the White House , in Washington, DC. A recent internal FBI report warns federal, state and local authorities to be alert for a potential new tool in the jihadi terror arsenal -- the placing of suspicious, but harmless, bags in public places to inspire fear, disrupt public transportation and tie up police and bomb squads.
More PhotosThe so called "battle of suspicious bags" was encouraged by an unknown poster to a known jihadi website. On May 12th, the poster suggested an "invasions suspicious bags (sic)" in "the heart of Washington and New York," as the FBI's Washington Field Office Intelligence Division noted in its May 27th "Situational Information Report." The bags would contain not bombs, but innocuous items, a tactic that has been used by other political extremists in the U.S. in the recent past.
"The stated goal of the campaign," said the report, "was to exploit desensitization of first responders caused by response fatigue to suspicious, but harmless items."
Poster Comment: