The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have issued a public service announcement saying foreign terrorist organizations such as ISIS and related terrorist organizations could target certain events across the United States during “Pride Month”-related events in June.
The terrorist threats could come via the mail, in person, or online, the agencies stated without elaborating or providing specific details.
The bulletin noted that June 12 is the eighth anniversary of the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando in which 49 people died. After the incident, pro-ISIS groups “praised this attack as one of the high-profile attacks in Western countries” and “supporters celebrated it,” according to the FBI and DHS.
There was no evidence that the ISIS terrorist group was directly involved in plotting that shooting, but the shooter, Omar Mateen, called 911 after the incident started and pledged allegiance to the group.
The agencies cited that in February 2023, an ISIS-related message board had included “rhetoric and rallied against the growth and promotion” of LGBT groups.
“Messages also called for ISIS followers to conduct attacks on soft targets, though they weren’t specific [to those venues],” the FBI stated.
In June 2023, three ISIS sympathizers tried to attack a parade in Austria, using vehicles and knives, according to the FBI and DHS.
The two agencies revealed “possible indicators” of what they called “potential threat activity,” which includes “unusual surveillance or interest in buildings, gatherings, or events” as well as “unusual or prolonged testing or probing of security measures at events or venues,” violent threats made online or in person, and photography of security related equipment or personnel.
Other FBI Warnings
In April, the FBI announced that it had arrested an 18-year-old Idaho man for allegedly plotting to carry out a terrorist attack targeting local churches. The man, identified in court documents as Alexander Mercurio, is accused of telling an FBI informant about his alleged plans and that he wanted to carry out an attack on April 7, but he was thwarted by officials.“The defendant allegedly pledged loyalty to ISIS and sought to attack people attending churches in Idaho, a truly horrific plan which was detected and thwarted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force,” the FBI said in a statement issued at the time.
The warning comes after FBI Director Chris Wray said last month that foreign terrorist groups are again looking to attack the United States in an “increasingly concerning” way, noting that his agency is attempting to prevent an attack on U.S. soil via terrorist groups such as ISIS-K, a regional branch of ISIS mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He then made reference to a terrorist attack claimed by ISIS in Moscow that left more than 140 people dead.
“The foreign terrorist threat and the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, like the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia Concert Hall a couple weeks ago, is now increasingly concerning,“ Mr. Wray said. ”Oct. 7 and the conflict that’s followed will feed a pipeline of radicalization and mobilization for years to come.”
He has been issuing warnings about the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), often warning this year that the regime is actively targeting U.S. systems. The CCP’s hacking programs are much larger than the U.S. cybersecurity structure.
“The CCP is throwing its whole government at undermining the security and economy of the rule-of-law world,” the FBI director said earlier this year.
