http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=54120
Mayor More Convinced Than Ever Terror Threat Is Real!!!
October 09, 2005
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is standing by his decision to go public with the news of a potential terror threat on the city’s subway system on Sunday, saying officials have become more convinced over the last couple of days that the information was real.
State and local authorities learned of the threat in a memo issued by the Department of Homeland Security Wednesday and made public by the Associated Press on yesterday that said the planned attack was set for Sunday.
On Thursday, the city went public with the threat that terrorists planned to use timed or remote-controlled explosives hidden in briefcases, suitcases, and under strollers. The memo says the attack might be carried out by operatives, "who may be in the New York City area.”
Despite warnings from officials in Washington D.C. that the threat was not credible, Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told the public about the alleged plot to smuggle explosives onto the subway system.
The mayor says at the end of the day, he's the one in charge of keeping New Yorkers safe.
“They have their views, but we have to make the decision,” said the mayor. “Its easy to analyze and say this is possible, that’s possible, but when it gets down to the level of a city, we've got to make a decision.”
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement Saturday saying its director, Michael Chertoff, “Respects the mayor's judgment and believes that the security precautions being taken by Mayor Bloomberg and other New York officials are absolutely an appropriate response while this and other intelligence information continues to be examined and analyzed. The secretary also shares the mayor's view that the benefit of the doubt should be placed on the side of caution."
So far three suspects have been arrested in connection with the alleged plot, all of them in Iraq. Sources say authorities are investigating whether a fourth man traveled to New York as part of the scheme.
Security remains high in the city as a result of the threat, with police say officers are now conducting more random searches of backpacks, bags and baby strollers, as well as more subway car sweeps.
Officers from the NYPD "Atlas Team" will also be part of the security detail in the Bronx tonight when the Yankees take on the Los Angeles Angels in Game Four of the American League Division Series.
Members of the counter-terror squad will be sweeping trains bound for the game as well as patrolling the area around the stadium.
*** This ALERT is hot and real. It remains active for the rest of October. It is by no means over if nothing happens today or tomorrow. Strap hangers stay ALERT!!!***
