Men filming ferry ride raise suspicion [Tacoma, WA]

tribnet.com ^ | July 7, 2002

[TomGuy]

Men filming ferry ride raise suspicion

The Associated Press

State ferry officials have told the U.S. Coast Guard and the Washington State Patrol about two groups of men taking extensive videotapes on state ferries in the past 10 days.

Four men who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent were videotaping, taking notes and talking on cellphones during two round trips June 24 on the ferry Spokane between Edmonds and Kingston, said Susan Harris of the Washington State Ferries.

"They seemed to be filming more of the interior of the cabin rather than the normal tourist filming, which is always the exterior," she said.

They became agitated when told to leave the vessel at each terminal as required, she said. The captain went home and decided to report the incident the next day.

On July 3, a different group of men appearing to be of Middle Eastern descent took extensive videotapes on the ferry Tacoma between Bainbridge and Seattle, she said.

"They were filming all over the place" even before boarding the ferry, and some observers said they were just tourists, she said.

She said no terrorist incidents have occurred on the ferries.

"There's no proof that there's anything to be concerned about; it's just that we're on heightened alert," she said.

Chief Warrant Officer Ray Cain with the Coast Guard said the incidents have been reported to the State Patrol, which handles law enforcement on the ferries, because they are considered part of the highway system.

"They were notified and they would investigate, trying to identify any such individuals," Cain said.

State Patrol officials were not available for comment late Friday.

(Published 12:30AM, July 6th, 2002)

[Don Joe]

"There's no proof that there's anything to be concerned about"

Yeah right. It's not like the house is a raging inferno, after all. It's just a bunch of smouldering fires in the wastebaskets and window curtains. Nothing to break a sweat over. If it develops into anything serious, deal with it then. But for heavens sake don't do anything that might offend the guy with the matches.

[martin_fierro]

Somebody oughtta film these groups filming. <|:)~

[cardinal4]

SEA has been targeted before. These guys just sound suspicious.

[elfman2]

They're screwing with us (or spending off their own money.) Taking out a ferry or bridge is way too difficult. The force required for that could better be used on a public event to kill or on a multitude of power lines to disrupt. Those tapes won't have much value.

They're in total disarray if they're resorting to this.

[per loin]

Yes. With the tiny digital cameras now available, it's easy to carry one at all times. If you see an Arab doing anything at all suspicious, photograph him/her. If you've Arab neighbors, photograph those who come and go at their homes. Write down license numbers of their visitors. Keep track of their comings and goings. Be alert. America is at war, and many of the enemy are living among us.

[TomGuy]

Taking out a ferry or bridge is way too difficult

Thinking back a few weeks--taking out the I-40 bridge in eastern Oklahoma wasn't real difficult. Of course, that one seems to be an accident, but still has a lot of unanswered questions. Like,

Why didn't a crew of 6 notice the tug being way off course (outside the shipping channel) for 20+ minutes before the impact?

[One I'd ask is--Has anyone checked the tugboat's captain/crew to see if any of them had a recent significant increase of wealth in their bank accounts.]

[livius]

A group of Middle Eastern men were also seen videotaping ferries in San Francisco Bay a couple of weeks ago. Their behavior was almost identical to that mentioned in this article about Seattle. The captain and crew in SF reported it, too, but too late for the men to be found by law enforcement.

[elfman2]

" Why didn't a crew of 6 notice the tug being way off course "

I have a hard time imagining America "terrorized" by hijacked tugboats.

[TomGuy]

Yes. With the tiny digital cameras now available, it's easy to carry one at all times. If you see an Arab doing anything at all suspicious, photograph him/her. If you've Arab neighbors, photograph those who come and go at their homes. Write down license numbers of their visitors. Keep track of their comings and goings. Be alert. America is at war, and many of the enemy are living among us.

A couple of days ago, someone posted this new technology at Radio Shack. Of course, these should only be used to view and record terrorist activities and not be used to peer into the neighbor's bedroom during shower time and click images.

Meade "CaptureView" Integrated Binocular & Digital Camera

$99.99 Reg. Price Brand: Meade Instruments Cat.#: 63-1146 Model: 63-1146
(Pricing and Availability may vary outside the contiguous 48 United States.)

The perfect gadget for the outdoorsman!

This combination binoculars and digital camera is great for sporting events, concerts and wildlife activities such as hunting or bird-watching. Whatever you see in the 8X magnified view of the binoculars, can be photographed in an easy-to-share digital format.

[Movemout]

Barge work is infinitely boring. You go up the river, you go down the river. Twenty minutes is a second in their lives. They are union guys who get a day off with pay for every day they work. They get paid and they party or go home to their families. The "Captain" passed out for whatever reason and the crew didn't respond appropriately. SNAFU is the term of the day. But your point that it is not that difficult to take out a bridge is right on. In Chaos Theory it is said that a butterfly flapping its wings in Houston may cause a hurricane in a far land. So who knows what the introduction of terrorism in the US of A might result in? I would hope it might be the demise of lots of bad guys but like I asked, Who Knows?

[elfman2]

The more I think about it, I see this as what you do when your leaders are in hiding, recruitment's near zero, your cause is hopeless and you still have several million dollars to spend.

[TomGuy]

I have a hard time imagining America "terrorized" by hijacked tugboats.

This war is a war to destroy the economy and infrastructure. The targets will not be normal military war targets. The targets will be those things that can cause disruption to the economy, cost dollars and lives, etc. [Think outside the box.]

[2sheep]

STD reported on another thread tonight that the Muslims are sending their families home to the M.E., presumably to get them out of harm's way.  Now THAT should be a concern.

[twntaipan]

It sounds to me like they are filming the interiors for purposes of building a mock up of the vessel. That could be used for preparing a hi-jacking of a ferry and killing the passengers. Muslim terrorists have hit ships and boats before (in the middle east) because they are relatively defenseless.

[per loin]

Taking out a ferry or bridge is way too difficult

Taking over a ferry on the Seattle-Bremerton run is an excellent method for taking out one of our aircraft carriers. The Bremerton Naval Shipyards are just a short distance from the Bremerton Ferry Dock.

Terrorists could load a semi with a huge truck bomb. By timing their arrival at the Seattle Ferry Terminal, they could assure that they would be loaded to the front of the ferry, and semis are loaded in the center lanes of the ferry. As neither individuals or vehicles are searched when boarding the ferry, it would be no problem to put heavily armed terrorists on board. If they seized control of the ferry as it neared Bremerton, they could steer it down the inlet to where the carriers dock. The carrier would have insufficient time to react, and would not likely fire on a ferry full of passengers anyway. A semi-sized truck bomb, exploded as the ferry rammed the carrier might not sink it, but would certainly damage it, and would be the type coup that al Queda loves.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Taking out a ferry or bridge is way too difficult."

Well, taking out a bridge "is" way too difficult--but taking out a ferry is as simple as driving a van or several car-trunks full of explosives on board and setting them off. I'm sure it is possible to disguise sufficient explosive material so as to not be detectable in a cursory search.

[TomGuy]

A ferry filled with people would make for an ideal hostage situation. Just think, they capture a ferry, threaten to kill off passengers one at a time, one every hour until The Blind Shiek is released. [They are suicidal anyway, so if they run out of passengers to kill and they end up dead themselves, they have managed to "take" a number of dead with them.]

Potential senerios of disruption and threat are numerous and endless.

[per loin]

Excellent. Only problem is that Radio Shack does not open for several hours.

[TomGuy]

Only problem is that Radio Shack does not open for several hours.

Well, you'll just have to tackle all the local terrorists and sit on them until Radio Shack opens. LOL