[Infowarrior] - Vague Threat Prompts Steps by N.Y. Police

[Richard Forno]

August 11, 2007
Vague Threat Prompts Steps by N.Y. Police
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/nyregion/11threat.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pa
gewanted=print

The Police Department set up checkpoints yesterday in Lower Manhattan and
increased security after learning of a vague threat of a radiological attack
here.

In an interview last night, Paul J. Browne, a police spokesman, said, ³We¹ve
found nothing to verify the threat.²

He added, though, ³Because it meant our deploying radiological monitoring
equipment, it was noticed, and it gave rise to some rumors that we were
obligated to kill.²

The police learned about the threat through an item on the Web site
debka.com ‹ a site that Mr. Browne said was believed to have Israeli
intelligence and military sources ‹ that said that Qaeda operatives were
planning to detonate a truck filled with radiological material in New York,
Los Angeles or Miami. Officials say the Web site carries reports that are
often wrong, but occasionally right.

In response to the threat, the police set up checkpoints at various
Manhattan entry points and at Bowery and Canal Street. They also ³increased
deployment of radiological sensors, including vehicle, marine and
helicopter-mounted, as well as those carried by N.Y.P.D. personnel,² a
statement from the department said.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg released his own statement last night saying the
city¹s threat level had not changed and calling the police response nothing
out of the ordinary.

³These actions are like those that the N.Y.P.D. takes every day: precautions
against potential but unconfirmed threats that may never materialize,² he
said.