Posted on 07/12/2004 3:59:33 AM PDT by kattracks
Fringe elements are hoping to spark major disruptions at the Republican National Convention with a series of sneaky tricks - including fooling bomb-sniffing dogs on trains bound for Penn Station, the Daily News has learned.
Internet-using anarchists are telling would-be troublemakers to decoy specially trained Labrador retrievers with gunpowder or ammonium nitrate-laced tablets in a bid to halt trains or even spur the evacuation of Madison Square Garden.
Top cops are girding against the attempt to foil strong anti-terrorist strategies aimed at protecting conventiongoers - including President Bush - as well as peaceful protesters during the Aug. 30 to Sept. 2 GOP fete.
"Where is the legitimate protest in trying to endanger the public?" an angry Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told The News.
"It is the height of irresponsibility," he added. "These hard-core groups are looking to take us on. ... They have increased their level of sophistication and violence."
So in addition to guarding against the most vile, organized and destructive of terrorists, Kelly and company have to combat a shadowy, loose-knit band of traveling troublemakers who spread their guides to disruption over the Internet.
The dog decoy ploy is the among most insidious in the fringe groups' bag of tricks - which includes throwing marbles under the hooves of police horses and using slingshots to pelt the animals.
"They're trying to use up our resources with false alarms. ... The sensitive dogs would become burned out with too many alerts," said a police source.
Preliminary plans call for state and city cops with the dogs and hand-held chemical detection devices to board commuter and subway trains one stop before they reach Penn Station, under the Garden.
The trains will be swept for suspicious packages and terror suspects before being allowed to continue into the station - the country's busiest, with about 600,000 passengers on a regular workday.
"We're going to make certain there is absolutely no disruption of the train," Kelly said in announcing the procedures on April 28.
Two days later, an Internet posting detailed how to stoke disorder by miscuing the bomb dogs.
The posting instructed people to "go to a rifle, pistol or skeet shooting range, spend an hour shooting to saturate clothing with smell of gunpowder, go directly to a New Jersey Transit, LIRR or subway train headed for Penn Station.
"Try to have at least two people on a train in different locations, sit or stand near the doors as the train approaches the station, try to get near police and dogs, loiter as long as possible around the dog, try to pet it if possible.
"If the dog alerts on your scent, do not leave or resist; the situation will cause a major disruption of the train schedule. ... If there is more than one person on the train that causes a dog to alert, you can bet that the train will not be going anywhere for a long time ... neither will any trains behind it."
The message instructs to "Play dumb for as long as possible" before telling the police you unwittingly got the gunpowder on your clothes at a shooting range. "It is important that the police call in all possible resources to investigate the situation. ... With any luck, Madison Square Garden will be evacuated."
"Rush hours are ideal, the final night of the convention, very good, too," the posting said.
After being alerted to the gunpowder posting, investigators uncovered Internet mentions of dispersing traces of ammonium nitrate on the trains.
Ammonium nitrate is one of the most common farm fertilizers in the world. The dogs are trained to detect the fertilizer because it has been used in major bombings, from the 1993 World Trade Center attack to Oklahoma City to Bali, Indonesia.
The NYPD also is preparing for possible "Black Bloc" tactics by small groups of anarchists, in which demonstrators wear black clothing and bandannas over their faces - and wield pipes, bottles and commit acts of vandalism against corporate "enemies" such as the Gap, Starbucks and McDonald's.
Cops have been trained to isolate violent individuals among peaceful protesters, and will employ an 1845 law that prohibits people from wearing masks in street gatherings, except for masquerades.
The NYPD has sent cops to Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Miami, sites of previous political conventions, and to Boston, which will host the Democratic convention this month, to collect intelligence.
"There is the same hard-core element that we have seen move from city to city where violence has marred protests," another police source said.
Trail of global mayhemHere's a look at major events in recent years that were disrupted:
- SEATTLE, December 1999: Tens of thousands of protesters storm into the usually laid-back city to protest global economic policies at meeting of the World Trade Organization. The ragtag group of anarchists, students and labor organizers takes cops by surprise, fights pitched battles with riot police and derails the opening ceremony.
- QUEBEC CITY, April 2001: Riot police fire water cannons and rubber bullets to keep 25,000 demonstrators at bay during the Summit of the Americas aimed at creating the world's largest free trade area. The leaders of 34 nations meet behind a 2.3-mile fence as protesters besiege summit site, but fail to derail meeting.
- GENOA, ITALY, July 2001: A protester is shot dead as more than 100,000 rock-throwing demonstrators battle cops at the G8 summit of wealthy nations. Heavily armed cops even mount predawn raids on the media center and protest organizers, arresting dozen of leaders.
- MIAMI, November 2003: Cops use tear gas and overwhelming force to break up throngs of hundreds of labor activists gathered at a free-trade summit. The police keep a lid on protests with mass arrests, but critics say they fueled anger by overreacting.
The cost of security
- The security tab for the Police Department is about $76 million, most of which will be reimbursed.
- Nearly $50 million will go toward overtime for the 10,000 officers around Madison Square Garden, and the cops who fill in for them.
- Almost $12 million is being spent on training in counterterrorism, as well as in First Amendment rights of protesters and media.
- Some $17.5 million is being spent on equipment, such as the construction of Delta barriers - metal lift plates - around the Garden area to stop trucks for inspections.
The words on Web that incite hatred
Here are excerpts from an Internet posting advising how to trick bomb-sniffing dogs:
- "Go to a rifle, pistol or skeet shooting range, spend an hour shooting to saturate clothing with smell of gunpowder, go directly to a New Jersey Transit, LIRR or subway train headed for Penn Station.
- "Try to have at least two people on a train in different locations, sit or stand near the doors as the train approaches the station, try to get near police and dogs, loiter as long as possible around the dog, try to pet it if possible.
- "If the dog alerts on your scent, do not leave or resist; the situation will cause a major disruption of the train schedule. ... If there is more than one person on the train that causes a dog to alert, you can bet that the train will not be going anywhere for a long time ... neither will any trains behind it.
- "It is important that the police call in all possible resources to investigate the situation. ... This will result in the maximum disruption. ... With any luck, Madison Square Garden will be evacuated.
- "Rush hours are ideal, the final night of the convention, very good, too."
Originally published on July 11, 2004
On the Left Coast, they get support and protection that conservatives would never get from the leftist in the local governments.
And they are mostly not Muslims....their only goal is to take down America.
Will the sheeple wake up ??
Gabba gabba hey!
Maybe our boys can spare a few ka-booms and attack their terrorist camps.
I'd look the other way.
"Agree.........those caught intending to counter such security "on purpose" are terrorists . Not a game anymore. Not a form of protest. It is terrorism and should fall under laws regarding open sedition and terrorism. Time to define by action the difference between free speech, right to protest and downright criminal acts."
After the Anthrax problems in Floriduh and DC, there were a lot of phoney white powder hoaxes around the nation.
AG Ashcroft said that these actions as you noted, "Were acts of terrorism in that they caused panic, problems and wasted valuable resources."
A few of these terrorist jokesters found out the hard way in N California, with arrests, fines and sentences. Zero tolerance with those holler fire in theatres, bombs in airports or do intentional actions to weaken our terrorist response in America.
follow the money - - - RICO?
"And they are mostly not Muslims....their only goal is to take down America.
Will the sheeple wake up ??"
Most of the Watermelon Jihadists in America who threaten acts of eco violence/terrorism or commit them are white trust fund criminals.
Up to now, they have treated like some rare endangered species. Jake Reno prohibited the FBI from investigating and tracking these criminals.
The Sheeple of the Left are awake, and they know that these Watermelong Jihadists are on their side to weaken America while claiming to be good for America.
Anarchist-socialists is like reddish green or dark light.
But I will grant that they may want to create chaos, in order for their maximum leaders to take power, but then it would be the jackboot of socialism that would rise from the chaos.
Santa Fe NM is full of those kids too!
I don't think their are laws against going to the range and riding trains..This ought to be interesting to watch......
Seems to me the convention ought to move to , say, Dallas or Missoula or Kansas City. NY is not going to support Bush anyway. We ought to say to kerry and Kennedy and Hillary, make this convention safe, call off the dogs or we are out of here.
He's preying!!!
We are at war.
I agree. Here's one group that gets no press:
New Arissa Link Arissa has toned down the message since I found it last November.
About Arissa - Excerpts: The primary goal of Arissa is to create a political and social revolution in the United States of America. We believe that none of the single-issue problems - whether in the human, environmental, or animal categories - can be resolved until a political structure is put into place to allow for an atmosphere of change. Arissa will have reached its goal when that revolution occurs.
Our Arissa Media Services Department was formed in late 2003 to provide necessary media relations for those conducting revolutionary actions in the United States.
I think the selection of NY was a statement by President Bush through the RNC that neither the foreign or domestic terrorists will determine what he does.
I really was hoping for Tampa as the site of the convention...we were in the running, but NYC makes a statement.
These groups are so organized that it makes no difference in which city the convention is held. They'll try to disrupt it.
>>>flash mobs + moveon
Please review this search and pass on to the other activists. It is always good to get ahold of the oppositions play book :)
http://www.google.com/search?q=flashmob.com+%2B+moveon.org&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&filter=0
Where's PETA on this outrage?
bttt
Ping to #95 and the rest of thread for "stories not covered"
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