Police in Northern Virginia tighten up security after threats of an ISIS terror attack

 

Fairfax County police handout. 

Police in Northern Virginia have tightened up security around malls and stores after threats emerged of an ISIS terror attack. Fox News. Police have not confirmed that the threat is from ISIS, only saying that there was a threat, though multiple media outlets are reporting it is indeed an ISIS threat. The FBI did not have a comment, though local police said the federal government was involved in combating the threat. 

My Comment:

Just a quick post on this subject just in case it actually pans out. We often hear about terror threats during holiday weekends and they almost always end up being nothing. In theory terrorists would like to attack on holidays as people are out and about but usually it doesn't happen. Sometimes it does as the last major international ISIS attack (not counting Afghanistan) was the Easter attack in Sri Lanka. 

Some people are saying that the attack is related to Afghan refugees. I do not believe that is credible given how thin the articles are. It certainly could be true, I have said for awhile now that it would have been extremely easy for terrorists to sneak into America via the evacuation, but it could also just be hot air. Plus, I would think that it would take more time to organize a terror attack than the Afghan refugees would have. 

That being said it could certainly be a home grown terrorist. We have plenty of Muslims in America and many of them live in the Virginia/Washington/Maryland area. Some of them could be radicalized to ISIS and carry out this attack. I honestly think in the short term that is a much bigger threat than from the Afghan refugees. 

The timing for this couldn't be worse though. As you are almost certainly aware there is a major election in Virginia on Tuesday and even this warning of a potential attack could have an effect on what may be a razor thin race. Some people may get scared and stay home, potentially changing the outcome of the race. 

I also have to note that Loudoun County has been an absolute mess due to their schoolboard. It became a national firestorm after a teenage girl was raped by a non-binary student and then the school board lied about it. I almost wonder if the ISIS threat was wrong and the source is someone on either side of that issue that is really upset about it. 

If a terror attack does happen, and remember I don't think it will, it might shift the news around a bit. ISIS is mostly a bad memory thanks to President Trump (and Russia) destroying most of their leadership and taking back almost all of their land. But the terror group is still around and if they pull off an attack it will be a reminder of the bad old days of the last decade. Hopefully this is nothing but I would still keep an eye out if you live in the area...