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Pesterrism: Jihadi Calls For Harmless Suspicious Packages
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 7, 2010
Modified Jun 7, 2010
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Valerio Bruscianelli
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 7, 2010
Modified Jun 7, 2010
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NYC's new threat: suspicious packages that don't actually have anything inside that goes boom. According to the FBI, somebody on a "known jihadi web site" is calling for a wave of harmless suspicious packages to bring the city to a standstill. It's actually a brilliant strategy, because if there's one thing New Yorkers hate more than random explosions, it's being inconvenienced.
On May 12th, this unidentified forum poster called for an "invasions suspicious bags (sic)" in "the heart of Washington and New York." The FBI says, "The poster suggested packing bags with innocuous items and placing them in public areas has the capability to occupy response assets and disrupt public infrastructure and transportation. The stated goal of the campaign was to exploit desensitization of first responders caused by response fatigue to suspicious, but harmless items." So far there's no evidence of such a campaign in NYC, but after a van filled with rudimentary explosives was found in Times Square, the number of suspicious package incidents spiked dramatically.
The NYPD attributed the increase to citizens' heightened vigilance, but the suspicious package incidents repeatedly shut down Times Square and other busy Manhattan locations. And then last month there was the "suspisious package" in Soho, which didn't seem to strike much fear into the hearts of those infidels on Prince Street.
Tagged
bomb squad
bomb square
mind games
suspicious package
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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