American city officials warned about dirty bomb threat

Thursday, October 19, 2006

City officials in seven United States cities were warned today about a possible attack on NFL stadiums using "dirty bombs." The Department of Homeland Security, which issued the warnings, has also added that the threat is "not credible."

The bomb threat, originally discovered on 4chan, stated that truck bombs containing radiological materials would be detonated during the football games this Sunday. While the Department of Homeland Security did not disclose which cities were mentioned, an unnamed department official has said the cities named were Atlanta, Miami, New York, Seattle, Houston, Oakland, California, and Cleveland, Ohio.

In response to the threat, several teams are scheduled to sweep some stadiums with radiation detection devices on Sunday for the presence of radioactive materials. In addition, the parking areas and entrances will be monitored closely for suspicious activity. The NFL has released a statement saying that the stadiums are well protected through security measures already in place.

The FBI has questioned a Milwaukee resident said to be responsible for the threats, which were posted on the web site last week. The FBI has declined to release the details of the investigation.

Sources

Pierre Thomas and Jason Ryan. "FBI Interviews Man in NFL Web Threat" — ABC News, October 19, 2006
"U.S. says threat to NFL stadiums not credible" — Reuters, October 18, 2006
Lara Jakes Jordan. "Government skeptical of threat against NFL stadiums" — Detroit Free Press, October 18, 2006
"Bomb threat against NFL stadiums not credible" — CNN, October 18, 2006

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