Highlights
-FBI Warns: Terrorist Affiliates Have Set up Shop on US Soil
-American al-Qaeda Sympathizer Signals Reality
-Terror Threat is High
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark, New Jersey, law enforcement is currently conducting more than 400 investigations into the alleged illegal activities of extremist groups ranging from Osama bin Laden’s network, white nationalist groups and environmental extremists.
Although the investigations in New Jersey do not indicate a known specific threat to the homeland, the counterterror measures are a reminder that terrorists still poses a legitimate threat to national security.
Threat to New Jersey
FBI officials granted a local New Jersey media group, The Record, a brief account of the investigations into suspected terrorist group sympathizers and the disruption techniques taken to prevent a threat to the homeland.
•In Iraq, US soldiers confiscated a laptop computer after detaining an al-Qaeda operative. After scanning the computer, several New Jersey phone numbers were uncovered on the hard drive. The FBI is currently investigating the findings.
•FBI’s Joint Task Counterterrorism Task Force claimed that ongoing investigations have found every major terrorist group in the world, excluding the Taliban, to have at least one suspected individual contact or affiliate known living in northern New Jersey.
•Task Frce teams are constantly responding to reports of suspicious activity. On a monthly average, task force teams receive roughly a dozen “tips” on potential activity or suspicious incidents pertaining to nuclear, biological or chemical threats in New Jersey.
•Undercover officers attend all New York Giants football games at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Agents are responsible for the monitoring of any unusual activity that indicates criminal or terrorist activity.
Ongoing Effort
The indication of terrorist group associates in New Jersey demonstrates the sustained threat to the homeland from a wide variety of terrorist organizations and sympathizers.
