Homeland Security says aware of no credible threat against malls

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Homeland Security says aware of no credible threat against malls

BY ANNA YUKHANANOV AND WILL DUNHAM
WASHINGTON Sun Feb 22, 2015 5:50pm EST

(Reuters) - The U.S. Homeland Security Department said on Sunday it was not aware of any specific plot against U.S. shopping malls, backing away from comments by the department's chief that he takes seriously a threat by Somali-based Islamist militants against the Mall of America in Minnesota and other shopping sites in the West.

Some U.S. and Canadian officials had earlier cast doubt on the credibility of the threat made in a video attributed to al Shabaab, which appeared to call for attacks on Western shopping areas, specifically mentioning Mall of America, the West Edmonton Mall in Canada, London's Oxford Street and sites in Paris.

Asked on the CNN program "State of the Union" on Sunday morning about the threat to Mall of America, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said: "Anytime a terrorist organization calls for an attack on a specific place, we've got to take that seriously."

He advised people going to the Mall of America, which is one of the world's largest shopping areas, to be particularly careful.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/22/us-usa-security-mall-idUSKBN0LQ0IY20150222

[dflprincess]

1. I thought the threat against the Mall of America

might have come from a taxpayer who is sick of the ongoing tax breaks MOA gets. Not to mention what infrastructure improvements and public safety have cost. MOA is located in Bloomington, MN. There is are two police stations in Bloomington, one at city hall and a "substation" located in the mall.

The Mall is perfectly willing to suck up taxpayer money but when an "I Can't Breathe" protest was held inside it - the owners (and the city) all claimed it was private property and the protesters had no right to be there.

[global1]

2. I Look At This Threat As A Ploy To Get The Repugs To Present The Senate With A Clean Bill....

to fund DHS. I think it was meant to put pressure on the Repugs. The Repugs are pointing their fingers at the Dems in the Senate if DHS doesn't get the funds they need so I think this threat was meant to get the Repugs to back down on their immigration stance and put in a clean bill so DHS gets funded and they don't shoulder the blame should the funding not go through.

[bemildred]

3. Bankruptcy comes to mind. nt