Howdy, Folks. I just got PING'ed to this thread. Yeesh, it's a big one.
I've been at my watch desk at the Ops Center, watching the I-95 tanker blasts. Reports are still coming in, but the open media is catching up to the situation.
Advice: Don't waste your time on the webcams. The views aren't good, and the refresh rates are tanking for all the activity.
FYI
U.S. Man's Vendetta Led to Terror Hoax Calls, FBI Says
Tue January 13, 2004 03:51 PM ET
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4120811 CHICAGO (Reuters) - A man with a grudge called authorities to falsely accuse relatives of being al Qaeda members and planning attacks on Chicago landmarks, the FBI said on Tuesday.
Abdul Rauf Noormohamed, a U.S. citizen born in India, was charged with making false statements to the government in anonymous telephone calls the FBI says were motivated by a family dispute. He faces up to five years in prison.
Noormohamed, 59, was released on $100,000 bond on Tuesday following his arrest on Monday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport as he was preparing to fly to Egypt.
Investigators do not know the nature of the family argument or why the Chicago resident was traveling to Egypt, an FBI spokesman said.
The anonymous caller warned that bombs were being assembled to blow up landmarks including the Sears Tower and O'Hare, the FBI said.
The calls began four weeks ago and prompted officials to waste hours looking into whether the family members belonged to Osama bin Laden's extremist group, the agency said. He also accused some of his relatives of belonging to Islamic Jihad.
"Given our heightened state of alert, it's unconscionable for someone to exploit the situation to settle a personal vendetta," FBI special agent in charge Thomas Kneir said.