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14 D.C. Students Hospitalized With Respiratory Problems

Washington D.C. fire officials are investigating a hazardous material situation at an elementary school.

Authorities were called to Walker-Jones Elementary School at 100 L St. in Northwest just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday in response to a report of a chemical odor in the building.

Officials said that upon arriving, they found some kids complaining of respiratory problems and called for hazmat units.

Fire Department spokesman Alan Etter said that 14 children and one faculty member were transported to a local hospital for respiratory irritation. None of the injuries is believed to be life-threatening.

Officials said a pepper-spray type product or tear gas was released in the school, but authorities don’t know how or by whom. Etter said officials are working to determine whether the irritant was intentionally or accidentally sprayed.

Students were evacuated and taken to a church and another school to continue their school days.

The school was ventilated all afternoon, and air samples were taken periodically. Evacuated students were brought back to Walker-Jones at the end of the school day after the all clear was given.

Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant Security Guards Asleep On The Job

A three-month investigation into security issues at our nation’s nuclear power plants found something disturbing at Peach Bottom nuclear facility outside of Philadelphia. Security guards charged with protecting the plant are sleeping on the job. And not just one of them. Several were caught on tape snoozing during their shifts.

CBS 2’s three-month investigation into the security gap yielded some shocking information and video.

The video shows the inside of the nation’s largest nuclear facilities. There are images of security officers responsible for protecting the plant against a terrorist attack, an attack that could kill or injure tens of thousands, including people here in our area.

But instead of being alert and prepared for anything, the officers are asleep and unaware a fellow guard is videotaping these disturbing images shot at different times of the day.

The officers work at Peach Bottom Nuclear Plant just outside of Philadelphia. Although it may seem they’re on break, the reality is they’re all on duty, carrying guns, wearing flak jackets and sitting in what’s called a ready room, which is named that because it’s just steps from the nuclear reactors.

The men and women who work here are supposed to be “at the ready” to protect and defend the facility against a terrorist attack.

Experts say that radiation from a nuclear fire that starts at Peach Bottom would spread and could kill thousands of people as far away as Washington D.C. and New York City. And it could leave 188 square miles uninhabitable.

More at WCBSTV.coml

Video Link – Hat Tip: Hot Air 

Should You be worried..?

Nuclear Power facilitites have long been a high value target for terrorists. Here’s a couple of stories you may remember.

Security Breach At Palo Verde Nuclear Facility

A former engineer at the nation’s largest nuclear power plant has been charged with taking computer access codes and software to Iran and using it to download details of plant control rooms and reactors, authorities said.

Mohammad Alavi, who worked at the triple-reactor Palo Verde power plant west of Phoenix, was arrested April 9 at Los Angeles International Airport when he arrived on a flight from Iran, authorities said.

FBI Warns of Attacks on Nuclear Plants

January 30 2002, US intelligence sources warn that terrorists are planning an attack on a U.S. nuclear power plant. They have indications that a truck bomb or airline attack on a nuclear power plant or other U.S. nuclear facility, such as a weapons storage depot, is designed to cause mass casualties and spread deadly radiological debris.

Palo Verde Reactors Targeted

The nation’s biggest commercial nuclear power facility faces a possible terrorist threat, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Thursday.

Abraham told the Senate Armed Services Committee that terrorists may have targeted the Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Arizona. He said he couldn’t go into details about intelligence reports concerning the plans that may have included an attack on the plant.

The Washington Times reported Thursday that terrorists have targeted the Arizona plant and security officials are looking for Iraqi government “sleeper cells” that might carry out the attack. The threat to the facility came from sensitive information indicating that the plant was targeted by Middle Eastern terrorists who were not further identified, the report said.

Arizona Homeland Security Director Chuck Blanchard said he’s “heard no evidence of any sleeper cell anywhere in the country.”

A Palo Verde spokesman said he couldn’t comment on any intelligence reports.

Nuclear plants possible terror targets, memo warns

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent a confidential memo to power plants nationwide last week warning of plans for a terrorist attack in which hijackers are to “fly a commercial aircraft into a nuclear power plant.” If fighter jets intervene, the plan calls for terrorists to divert the “mission to any tall building.”

In a memo dated January 23, the NRC said “no specific timeline or location was given for the attack,” but FBI headquarters had sent the warning to all of its field offices. CNN learned of the memo Thursday.
Attack Highly Likely Within Next Five Years

A July 2002 National Resource Council report titled “Making The Nation Safer” states that the potential for 9-11 type attacks on spent nuclear fuel storage at nuclear power plants in the next five is high.

“Nuclear power plants may present a tempting high-visibility target for terrorist attack, and the potential for a September 11-type surprise attack in the near term using U.S. assets such as airplanes appears to be high.

Homeland Security Computers Hacked

Hackers compromised dozens of Department of Homeland Security computers, moving sensitive information to Chinese-language Web sites, congressional investigators said Monday.

Investigators pointed a finger at a government contractor, saying the firm hired to protect DHS computers tried to hide the incidents from the department.

The FBI is investigating the incidents, a congressional staffer said, and two members of Congress have asked the department’s inspector general to also launch an investigation.

“The results of our [committee] investigation suggest that the department is the victim not only of cyber attacks initiated by foreign entities, but of incompetent and possibly illegal activity by the contractor charged with maintaining security on its networks,” Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and James Langevin of Rhode Island said in a written statement.

The lawmakers said committee investigators found dozens of DHS computers were compromised and the incidents “were not noticed until months after the initial attacks.”

The extent of the damage is unclear, but a House Homeland Security Committee staff member said the hackers “took significant amounts of information.”

“We know where it [the information] was taken from, but we don’t know what was taken. We only know how many megabytes was taken,” the staff member said. “Everything was on the LAN A, which was an unclassified network. To the best of our knowledge there was no classified information [taken].”

The Web site where the information was moved was described only as a “Web hosting service that connects to Chinese Web sites.” The committee declined to say whether they were Chinese government sites.

In their letter requesting an investigation, Thompson and Langevin said that “contractors provided inaccurate and misleading information to Department of Homeland Security officials about the source of these attacks and attempted to hide security gaps in their capabilities.”

The letter does not name the contractor, but a committee staffer identified it as Unisys Corp., which has a $1 billion contract to safeguard DHS computers.

In a written statement, Unisys disputed the allegations, which were made public Monday in a Washington Post article.

According to the House Homeland Security Committee, Unisys was charged with installing intrusion detection systems, but the systems were not fully deployed at the time of the initial incidents.

If they had been, “the initial intrusions may have been detected and prevented,” Thompson and Langevin said.

More At CNN.com

Tomorrow: If Terrorists Are Planning To Attack Our Schools – What Can You Do To Prepare?

Preparing for a potential terrorist event, provides you your best chance of survival in the event of an actual attack. Preparedness should always be considered in the home, school and workplace for any unexpected event. Taking preparatory action can reassure you and your family that you can exert a measure of control even in the face of such events.

Tomorrow we will post Part 2 of the series “The Terrorist Threat to Our Schools”.

We’ll show you what steps you can take to keep yourself, your family and your school safe.

If you missed Part 1 – You can still read it here

Other related articles:

School Bus Terror Threat

Newsweek – Osama bin Laden Losing Control of Al Qaeda?

Lonely, marginalized and suddenly suspicious that he was losing his grip over the organization he helped create, Osama bin Laden finally decided that enough was enough. At least that’s the explanation sources close to him are giving for why, after three long years of silence, the Qaeda leader has released one video and two audiotapes in the past month, including last week’s audio message calling for a jihad against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

According to Omar Farooqi, a Taliban liaison officer with Al Qaeda, bin Laden recently learned that a faction within his own organization had been conspiring to sideline him, insisting unnecessarily, bin Laden now believes that he remain secluded for security reasons. CIA officials told Newsweek they could neither confirm nor reject the theory.

Bin Laden had long been chafing at this imposed gag order, says Farooqi, who learned from Sheik Saeed, Al Qaeda’s senior leader in Afghanistan, and other top operatives that bin Laden became “extremely upset” earlier this year when he discovered that some of his lieutenants feared he was dead. Bin Laden has always loved talking to the media—he used to infuriate his onetime protector, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, by holding press conferences—and, according to Farooqi, bin Laden had only reluctantly gone along with the advice that his safety required absolute silence.

Source – Newsweek

No Comment On American Eagle Flight Activity

A federal investigation determined there was no threat aboard an American Eagle flight on which a flight attendant reported that two passengers were acting suspiciously, an FBI spokesman said early Saturday.
(See Story below)

The FBI searched the plane and interviewed the 27 passengers and three crew members aboard American Eagle Flight 4518 from Jackonsville, Fla., and determined “the observed activity was misperceived,” FBI spokesman Newsom Summerlin in Charlotte said.

He would not comment on what the flight attendant thought she saw.

Plane Diverted to Rochester for Suspicious Package

A Northwest passenger plane has been diverted to Rochester International Airport becuase of a suspicious package.

The plane that took off from Detroit en route to Portland, Maine landed in Rochester at 10:38 Friday night. It was kept far away from the terminals, as a precaution as bomb sqaud personnel searched the aircraft.
Airport officials say a stewardess noticed suspicious activity in one of the planes bathrooms. She then found a suspicious package inside and alerted pilots.

The bomb squad determined the package is not explosive. They removed it from the aircraft.
No one was injured and all 46 passengers and 3 crew members were evacuated safely.
The FBI, TSA, and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office are continuing their investigation.
The airport’s manager hopes to have passenger and crew back on board later this morning.

Hat Tip – MC at Global Incident Map

2 Passengers Arrested at Raleigh Durham Airport After Plane Disturbance

UPDATE: A federal investigation determined there was no threat aboard an American Eagle flight on which a flight attendant reported that two passengers were acting suspiciously, an FBI spokesman said early Saturday the FBI searched the plane and interviewed the 27 passengers and three crew members aboard American Eagle Flight 4518 from Jackonsville, Fla., and determined “the observed activity was misperceived,” FBI spokesman Newsom Summerlin in Charlotte said.He would not comment on what the flight attendant thought she saw.

Two people were arrested at Raleigh-Durham International Airport Friday night after causing a “serious disturbance” on their flight from Jacksonville, Fla., according to an airport spokeswoman.

No one was injured, but the disturbance was classified as a terrorist threat, according to RDU Spokeswoman Colleen Fischvogt. Investigators did not say what may have been said or found to have prompted that decision.

Authorities did not immediately release the names of the two people who were arrested. They are in the custody of the FBI, officials said.

Police and emergency personnel met American Eagle flight 4518 at RDU after hearing that two passengers were causing a disturbance. The plane was held away from the terminal after it landed, and police surrounded the aircraft.

It had been scheduled to go to Gate C26.The flight was an Embraer ERJ-145, a regional twin-engine jet, according to its schedule information.

Several other emergency vehicles were also on the scene.

The flight was en route to RDU when the crew called for police to meet them.

Flight 4518 was due at RDU at 8:20 p.m. after leaving Jacksonville at 7 p.m.

Passengers were kept on the plane for a time, and police approached the aircraft with movable stairs. Passengers were able to get off the plane just before 9:50 p.m.

Police then took them to a central location to interview them briefly about what they had seen or heard.

Officials had disclosed no information at 10:30 p.m. about the cause of the disturbance or what happened to make the crew call police.

RDU commercial operations were proceeding normally during the incident, with both main runways open.

Source – WRAL.com

UPDATE:
Although an RDU spokeswoman said two people were arrested as the FBI investigated a “perceived terrorist threat” on board American Eagle Flight 4158 from Jacksonville, FL, to RDU, an FBI spokesman said he couldn’t confirm those details.

“Apparently, about 30 minutes prior to landing, there was a report of a passenger acting suspiciously,” FBI spokesman Newsom Summerlin in Charlotte said.

Local and federal law enforcement officials responded when the plane landed about 8:40 p.m. at a remote area of the airport, he said. Airport spokeswoman Colleen Fischvogt, who said two people were arrested, said the passengers were bused to their terminal.

She did not have names or charges.

Summerlin would not comment on whether anyone was arrested, adding that there’s a difference between investigative detention and being arrested.

American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said a flight attendant had “a security concern with a passenger,” prompting law enforcement officials to meet the plane.

UPDATE:
In a telephone interview, Annie Jacobsen from Aviation Nation spoke to Spokeswoman Colleen Fischvogt and was told , “we received word from the pilot about the suspicious activity before the flight landed.” Fischvogt explained that when Flight 518 landed, it sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes before FBI “took jurisdiction,” boarded the plane and arrested two people. DHS and local law enforcement were also present on the tarmac but “FBI took over the sight and the situation,” Fischvogt said.

“Wait a minute,” Jacobsen asked, “The passengers were stuck inside the plane with two bad guys for 45 minutes before law enforcement boarded the aircraft?” wanting to make sure she heard Fischvogt correctly.

Yes, Fischvogt confirmed.

Consider the agencies present 24/7 at the federalized Raleigh-Durham International Airport: FBI, DHS, (TSA & Federal Air Marshal Service), Joint Terrorism Task Force, ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) and airport police. And yet it took seven law enforcement agencies some forty-five minutes to put a single officer on the plane to counter the threat and secure the plane?

Jacobsen’s analysis is that the delay was caused by FBI and DHS fighting over who had jurisdiction; protocol over ‘acts of air piracy’ are a constant source of bickering between the two agencies and have been the subject of at least one DHS Inspector General’s Report. But what were the passengers doing, she asked Fischvogt?

Using their cell phones to call people in the terminals and call the news media,” Fischvogt said.

Jacobsen asked Fischvogt the ethnicity of the two passengers who were arrested: “one report says ‘of Middle Eastern descent’ but I personally can not confirm that,” she said.

Aviation Nation

Boston – MIT Student Arrested For Fake Bomb At Logan Airport

A woman who walked into Logan International Airport allegedly wearing a fake bomb strapped to chest was arrested at gunpoint Friday, officials said.

Star Simpson, 19, had a computer circuit board, wiring and a putty that later turned out to be Play-Doh in plain view over a black hooded sweatshirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport.

After a Massachusetts Port Authority official notified State Police about 8 a.m., troopers tracked Simpson down outside Terminal C, where they arrested her and later determined the device was a fake.

“She’s extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used,” Pare told The Associated Press. “And she’s lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue.”

Simpson is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology sophomore from Hawaii, officials said.

Pare said authorities had not determined a motive. Simpson was to be arraigned in East Boston District Court later in the day. She’s charged with disturbing the peace and possessing a hoax device.

A Massport staffer manning an information booth in the terminal, home to United Airlines, Jet Blue and other carriers, became suspicious when Simpson — wearing the device — approached to ask about an incoming flight, Pare said. Simpson then walked out of the terminal and the information booth attendant notified a nearby trooper.

The trooper, joined by others with submachine guns, confronted her at a traffic island in front of the terminal.

Pare said Simpson took an MBTA subway to the airport, but he was not sure if she had the device on at that time. She was arrested near an area where shuttle buses arrive to take passengers back to the airport subway station.

Read More

Suspicious Activity At California Fire Stations

During the last week of July, fire officials in the Bay Area city of Campbell reported that two men had been seen videotaping routine activities at a fire station.

The men were reportedly in their 20s or early 30s, and one was using a sophisticated news media-style camera.

When firefighters attempted to talk with the men, they reportedly jumped into a waiting car and sped off.

The incident prompted the Sacramento Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center to send out a request for Northern California fire stations to watch for similar incidents, and report them immediately.

The day the request went out, Sept. 6, a second, similar incident was reported at a fire station in Yuba City.

According to officials, a fire captain encountered two men parked outside the city’s main fire station. One of the men got out and allegedly began taking pictures of the fire station’s administration building. When the captain approached the men, to tell them they were in a no-parking zone, the photographer jumped in the vehicle and the men left.

The man who took the photos was described as being between 30 and 40 years of age.

On Sept. 12, Fresno Fire Department officials spotted two men in a vehicle allegedly observing activities at a fire training center. When questioned, the driver reportedly said they were just checking things out, then left immediately.

Two days later, on Sept. 14, personnel from the Sacramento Metro Fire Department noticed two men taking photos of a fire station. A third man sat in the back of a car, and appeared to be drawing or taking notes. When fire officials walked toward them, the two taking pictures jumped in the vehicle and sped away.

The men allegedly took pictures in front of the station, and in the rear. They ranged in age from late teens to about 60, officials recalled.

Tim Johnstone, a commander with the threat assessment center in Sacramento, said all of the incidents are being investigated, but there is no indication they might be related.

“We aren’t considering this a specific threat at this time; we’re just asking our public safety partners to be on the watch for suspicious activity,” he said.

He said the threat assessment center was formed to act as a collection point for homeland security intelligence, and disseminate it appropriately.

Jay Alan, deputy director of communication for the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is concerned about security agencies sharing information, and has made it a top priority.

Local officials said no suspicious incidents involving videotaping or photos have been reported at fire stations.

Fire department personnel are being asked to take note of vehicle descriptions, descriptions of suspicious subjects, and complete license plate numbers. Citizens who witness suspicious activity, near fire stations or elsewhere, should do the same, and report it to their local law enforcement agency.

Citizens should not attempt to contact suspicious individuals.

Source – ChicoER
Little Green Footballs is generating a lot of comments.

Bomb Threat Closes Schools In 12 New Jersey Towns

Several schools in New Jersey were suspended Thursday after the mayor of Emerson received a bomb threat and schools in over a dozen towns reacted seriously to the threat. Over 12,000 students in the state of New Jersey will have no classes Thursday.School officials are taking the threat seriously and ordered the suspension of classes as a precaution to the bomb threat. Parents and students of those affected schools were also alarmed of the threat.

Authorities said the bomb threat was relayed to the mayor of Emerson. Bomb disposal teams were now scouring schools in Emerson, Oradell and Washington Township.

Reports said Carol Dray, a clerk at the Emerson borough, received the bomb threat Wednesday which was addressed to Emerson Mayor Lou Lamatina.

“All three schools will be blown out on Thursday, September 20th at 11:30 am, with two other schools in near by towns,” the letter states.

Emerson police immediately notified nearby police departments of the threat because the letter did not specify which “other schools” were included in the target.

Administrators of five school in Oradell met at the Borough Hall to discuss the threat. They later decided to close down the schools Thursday until Friday. The shutdown includes all school-sponsored extracurricular activities.

The following districts will be closing schools on Thusday – Emerson, Oradell, River Edge, Closter, Demarest, Haworth, Harrington Park, Northvale, Norwood, Old Tappan, River Vale, Westwood, as well as Parochial schools in those districts.

UPDATE: Students are expected back in classes on Friday.

Authorities worked through the night Wednesday and into the day Thursday to check about 60 school buildings, Bergen County Police Capt. Kevin Hartnett said. His department got help from police and sheriff’s departments from New Jersey and New York, which lent officers and bomb-sniffing dogs.

No explosive devices were found.

Officials said they chose to err on the side of caution.

al Qaeda Releases New Video Featuring Ayman al-Zawahri

Al-Qaida’s deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri said the United States was being defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts in a new video released Thursday, the latest in a series put out by the terror network.The video came days after Osama bin Laden released two messages to mark the Sept. 11 anniversary including his first new appearance in a video in nearly three years.

The 80-minute video posted on Islamic militant Web sites Thursday was in a documentary style, touting al-Qaida’s activities in various areas, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and North Africa.

The latest video included audiotapes from bin Laden, but it was not immediately clear if they were new, said IntelCenter, a U.S. counterterrorism group that monitors militant messaging and first uncovered the video.

More At Fox News

UPDATE:
Bin Laden to Declare War on Pakistan President Musharraf in New Video

A banner posted on an Islamic militant Web site this morning (Thursday) advertised that another message would be released, though it did not say whether bin Laden would appear in video or speak in an audiotape.

“Soon, God willing: ‘Come to Jihad (holy war)’, from sheik Usama bin Laden, God protect him” the banner read.

“Urgent, Al Qaeda declares war on the tyrant Pervez Musharraf and his apostate army, in the words of Osama bin Laden,” it read.

Are Terrorists Training in Rural America?

Islamic extremists in the United States have traditionally set up shop in big cities with large Muslim populations: places like New York City, Dearborn, Michigan and even Washington, DC. But one secretive group is doing just the opposite.

They call themselves Muslims of America. They’ve established compounds throughout the rural U.S. Members say they moved to the countryside to lead peaceful lives free of “Western decadence.” But others say that doesn’t tell the whole story.

“Certainly, when you’re in a rural area it enables you to better escape from the prying eyes of law enforcement,” said CBN News consultant David Gartenstein-Ross.

He says Muslims of America has close ties to a violent Pakistani group named Jamaat Al-Fuqra. Both groups are led by the same extremist cleric: Sheikh Mubarak Gilani.

“Sheikh Gilani is an extremist figure known to be very much involved in the jihads against India, also known to be very much anti-Semitic,” Gartenstein-Ross said.

Gilani’s images and messages are all over the Muslims of America Web site.

He founded the group during a visit to Brooklyn in 1980. Shoe bomber Richard Reid and Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammed are said to have been among his followers.

Gilani encouraged his U.S. pupils-mostly African Americans-to move to rural areas and establish Muslim communes. The group now has dozens of these communes nationwide.

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