ISIS militants may already be inside America. Concerns about homeland terrorism on soft targets by small groups of Islamic State militants will likely increase as the Christmas season nears and millions of Americans will be participating in large religious gatherings and converging on the local mall.
President Obama recently placed the blame for the ISIS threats at the feet of the national intelligence community, sparking backlash from the agents and officials who offer presidential briefings regularly. According to the Government Accountability Institute, President Obama has attended less than half of the national security briefings during his second term in office. The president reportedly prefers written briefs instead of face-to-face meetings with security officials.
A total of 40 American ISIS fighters have already traveled back home to the United States, according to Representative Tim Bishop, a Democrat from New York. The lawmaker stated during a recent speech that up to 40 radicalized American citizens who left the country to fight for the Islamic State have returned, and could likely poses a deadly or terrorist threat to the nation.
Tim Bishop’s ISIS speech went viral after being posted on YouTube late last week. Approximately 100 to 200 Americans have flown to the Middle East to join ISIS.
“One of the concerns is the number of U.S. citizens who have left our country to go join up with ISIS. It is believed there have been some number up to 100 that have done that,” Representative Bishop said.
The ISIS fighters from America are under the surveillance of the FBI, according to Representative Bishop. The New Yorker’s peers from both sides of the political aisle have also voiced concerns that “radicalized ISIS fighters” could enter the United States via the porous southern border. Texas Governor Rick Perry has been complaining about a lack of federal attention to the Mexican border for several years. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, illegal immigrants from more than 75 countries are believed to have crossed into Texas during the past two years.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal agencies tasked with protecting the nation and its citizens, admit that the southern border does pose a risk, but feel that lone wolf attacks by ISIS believers are a more prominent threat.
“It is a very, very complex and very, very dangerous threat and I think the plan that the president outlined the other night is a good plan,” Representative Bishop added. “It is not yet a threat to the homeland, but there is a concern that it could metastasize in such a way that it could become a threat to the homeland.”
While some politicians feel that ISIS does not pose a clear and present danger to the United States, many Americans disagree. The porous southern border could offer easy access for small groups of ISIS terrorists to enter the country and carry out a terrorist attack on soft targets like Dr. William R. Forstchen outlined in his most recent bestseller, Day of Wrath.
ISIS terrorists may be in West Virginia. Investigators at the Fusion Intelligence Center in Charleston are reportedly researching classified information related to the whereabouts of Islamic State militants on a daily basis.
During an interview with Mountain State news outlet WCHSTV, the intelligence center staffers refused to get into specifics regarding how many ISIS militants could be in West Virginia, or the exact locations where the terrorists may have been spotted. Fusion Intelligence Center staffers did reveal that ISIS is recruiting and training people “close enough to be concerned.” The center has also reportedly been “monitoring” individuals with Islamic State ties that have passed through West Virginia.
Fusion centers were created under the arm of the Department of Justice’s Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative and the Criminal Intelligence Coordinating Council. The centers are supposed to be an “effective and efficient mechanism to exchange information and intelligence” for fighting crime and terrorism. Staff at the centers merge information from multiple sources as a part of the National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan.
“Our role is receiving information,” Fusion Intelligence Center Director Thomas Kirk said.
“You’re looking for things to authenticate what is the key difference between this one and the last one. The texture of the sand, the type of rocks, the way the wind blows, the garb that’s being worn,” the director added in response to work investigators are conducting in relation to comparing ISIS beheading videos.
Kirk also said that if citizens think that journalist Steven Sotloff will be the last American to die at the hands of the Islamic State, we should “brace” ourselves.
“There are areas in the United States that are not too far from here, that have very large populations that are being recruited for ISIS right now. There are people associated with Al Qaeda, there are people on the Terrorist Watch List who travel through West Virginia, whether it’s through the airports or through the roads,” the Fusion Intelligence Center director added.
ISIS militants may be using the Texas Border to gain entry to the United States. Infowars journalist Joe Biggs recently dressed as an Islamic State terrorist and walked across the Texas Border from Mexico after simulating a beheading. Although Biggs carried a faux severed head and stood in full ISIS attire in America, he was not spotted or stopped.
President Obama stated during his ISIS speech last week that he wanted the Ebola outbreak to be deemed a matter of national security so more could be done to stop the illness from reaching pandemic status and killing millions of Americans. Those who think President Obama is not doing enough to combat ISIS have said that border security should also be considered a national security measure in order to protect United States citizens right now.
ISIS supporters are in America by the “dozens” according to a new report by Vocativ. The group’s technology analysts have reportedly been able to uncover potential Islamic State militants hiding in plain sight in the United States – some of which are studying at colleges on scholarships.
The ISIS advocates found in America include a radical Muslim cleric with a criminal history, according to the Huffington Post. Another Islamic State supporter is allegedly a young man from New York City and attending a prominent university in the Midwest on a chemistry scholarship. The college student identified as an ISIS supporter reportedly uses the Islamic State flag as his Facebok banner and recently captured the attention of the Joint Terrorism Task Force due to his social media posts.
“I am sitting here right now with a couple of agents who have received some information and begun working on something,” a local law enforcement representative told Vocativ when asked about the NYC ISIS supporter.
Another alleged ISIS supporter is a Texas resident studying engineering management at an American university. The individual has reportedly been distributing Islamic State materials around campus. The individual has also reportedly been posting images of himself in ISIS clothing online. A local mosque allegedly kicked him out of the worship center after accusing him of attempting to spread “extremist messages.” Texas FBI field agents are now reportedly reviewing photos, videos, and online posts of the engineering student.
A woman in Minnesota was also noted on the ISIS in America list. She has reportedly been posting ISIS videos and photos of Anwar al-Awaki on her social media pages. Vocativ attempted to contact the three Islamic State supporters but none have yet responded. A clerk at a Minnesota mosque said the woman accused of being an ISIS supporter is a teacher at the center. The mother of the chemistry student said her son told Vocativ that her son is hoping to go to work at Proctor & Gamble. When reporters asked how her son could be reached she said he does not have a phone and “never does anything but study.” Within minutes of the conversation, the college student’s’ Twitter and Facebooks accounts were allegedly taken down.
Many of the alleged ISIS supporters discovered by Vocativ are reportedly followers of Ahmad Musa Jibril, a radical cleric from Michigan. Jibril is presently wearing a GPS tracking device as the result of a “probation incident.” The Michigan cleric served six years in prison for attempting to bribe a juror, money laundering, and tax evasion, the Huffington Post report notes. One Vocativ source claims that Ahmad Musa Jibril has been attempting to recruit individuals to go to Syria and fight for ISIS. When a reporter for the media outlet went to Jibril’s door, the cleric reportedly said, “Stay here for a minute and you’ll see what’s going to happen.”
Do you think ISIS militants and Islamic State supporters are already in the United States and pose a deadly threat to Americans?