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Report warned Boston Marathon was vulnerable to terrorism, Obama did nothing.
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Too_Many_Tools
May 13, 2013, 8:14:13 PM5/13/13
to
Obama was too busy snorting cocaine, smoking dope, smoking cocks
and getting his ass packed to worry about the job he was elected
to do.
By Brian Bennett and Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau
May 9, 2013, 8:46 p.m.
WASHINGTON � Five days before two bombs tore through crowds at
the Boston Marathon, an intelligence report identified the
finish line as an "area of increased vulnerability" and warned
Boston police that homegrown extremists could use "small-scale
bombings" to attack spectators and runners at the event.
The 18-page report, similar to others sent to police and first
responders before major events in the Boston area, was written
by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which is funded in
part by the Department of Homeland Security and helps
disseminate intelligence information to local police and first
responders.
The assessment noted that there was "no credible, specific
information indicating an imminent threat" to the race.
"The FBI has not identified any specific lone offender or
extremist group who pose a threat to the Boston Marathon," the
report said.
In the aftermath of the bombing, who in law enforcement knew
what and when have become significant points of contention.
Even as federal officials pointed to the warning as evidence
they had done their jobs, Boston and Massachusetts state police
officials complained at a congressional hearing Thursday that
the FBI had not told them about an earlier investigation
involving Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of two brothers accused of
carrying out the April 15 attacks that left three dead and more
than 260 injured.
Since the blasts, the FBI has acknowledged that agents
interviewed Tsarnaev in 2011 but determined that he did not pose
a threat. Customs agents were aware that Tsarnaev, 26, had
traveled to Russia in 2012, but decided that he didn't require
additional questioning when he returned to the U.S. later that
year.
Boston police officials and members of Congress expressed
frustration during the hearing that the FBI and other agencies
hadn't shared more widely what they knew about the Tsarnaevs.
"We would have liked to have known," Boston Police Commissioner
Edward Davis told the House Homeland Security Committee during
the first of a series of hearings investigating the attacks.
Davis testified that he did not learn about the Tsarnaevs until
more than three days after the bombings, after Tamerlan Tsarnaev
had been killed in a police shootout and his 19-year-old
brother, Dzhokhar, was on the run.
But Davis said he was uncertain what his intelligence officers
would have made of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's 2012 trip to Dagestan,
Russia, noting that the FBI had interviewed him but found
nothing suspicious and that Russian officials did not tell the
FBI why they were interested in him.
"We would certainly have looked at the information," Davis said.
"We would certainly have talked to the individual." But he
added: "I can't say I would have come to a different conclusion"
than the FBI.
Federal officials defended their actions and suggested local law
enforcement agencies had not fully followed up on possible
threats.
The Homeland Security threat assessment was dated April 10 and
included a map of the Boylston Street finish line area.
Two officials read parts of it to a Times reporter.
"The possibility exists that [homegrown violent extremists]
could attempt an attack by using simple improvised explosive
devices or small-arms tactics against easily accessible low-
security targets," said the report by the Boston Regional
Intelligence Center, which comprises federal and local law
enforcement authorities.
The finish line was the area targeted by the bombers. Both
suspects were spotted on surveillance cameras.
Massachusetts authorities dismissed the center's warning as
routine and lacking specifics.
"The assessment about start and finish lines being potential
targets was considered and reflected in security plans for the
event, as they have been every year," David Procopio, a
spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police, said in a
statement. The wording in the report is "standard language" and
"based on common sense and accumulated expertise in event
security" and not on any specific threat, Procopio said.
"It is akin to saying, in general terms, that airplanes are an
attractive target to terrorists," he said.
Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston
office, said local officials, as members of the Joint Terrorism
Task Force there, had access to the information about the
brothers, as did the FBI. They all had access to law
enforcement's Guardian Threat Tracking System to review
intelligence data, he said.
"Boston [terrorism task force] members, including
representatives from the Boston Police Department , were
provided instruction on using Guardian, including suggestions on
methods for proactively reviewing and establishing customized
searches, which would allow them to be fully informed of all
[task force] activity that may affect Boston and the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts," DesLauriers said.
He added that in 2011 alone, the Boston task force conducted
"approximately 1,000 assessments, including the assessment of
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, which was documented in the Guardian
database."
But Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House
Homeland Security Committee, said, "The idea that the feds have
this information and it's not shared with the state and locals
defies why we created the Homeland Security Department in the
first place."
The 70 so-called fusion centers like the Boston Regional
Intelligence Center were created after the Sept. 11 commission
insisted in 2002 that federal, state and local law enforcement
agencies needed to cooperate more in counter-terrorism and to
analyze potential terrorist activity detected by police.
During a break in the hearing, Police Commissioner Davis was
asked about the warning of a possible terrorism incident near
the finish line.
He said investigators were conducting a thorough review of all
they knew before the bombing and what occurred after.
"A lot has to play itself out yet," he said. "Everything has to
be reviewed."
brian....@latimes.com
richard...@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-boston-
threat-20130510,0,3301080.story
and getting his ass packed to worry about the job he was elected
to do.
By Brian Bennett and Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau
May 9, 2013, 8:46 p.m.
WASHINGTON � Five days before two bombs tore through crowds at
the Boston Marathon, an intelligence report identified the
finish line as an "area of increased vulnerability" and warned
Boston police that homegrown extremists could use "small-scale
bombings" to attack spectators and runners at the event.
The 18-page report, similar to others sent to police and first
responders before major events in the Boston area, was written
by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which is funded in
part by the Department of Homeland Security and helps
disseminate intelligence information to local police and first
responders.
The assessment noted that there was "no credible, specific
information indicating an imminent threat" to the race.
"The FBI has not identified any specific lone offender or
extremist group who pose a threat to the Boston Marathon," the
report said.
In the aftermath of the bombing, who in law enforcement knew
what and when have become significant points of contention.
Even as federal officials pointed to the warning as evidence
they had done their jobs, Boston and Massachusetts state police
officials complained at a congressional hearing Thursday that
the FBI had not told them about an earlier investigation
involving Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of two brothers accused of
carrying out the April 15 attacks that left three dead and more
than 260 injured.
Since the blasts, the FBI has acknowledged that agents
interviewed Tsarnaev in 2011 but determined that he did not pose
a threat. Customs agents were aware that Tsarnaev, 26, had
traveled to Russia in 2012, but decided that he didn't require
additional questioning when he returned to the U.S. later that
year.
Boston police officials and members of Congress expressed
frustration during the hearing that the FBI and other agencies
hadn't shared more widely what they knew about the Tsarnaevs.
"We would have liked to have known," Boston Police Commissioner
Edward Davis told the House Homeland Security Committee during
the first of a series of hearings investigating the attacks.
Davis testified that he did not learn about the Tsarnaevs until
more than three days after the bombings, after Tamerlan Tsarnaev
had been killed in a police shootout and his 19-year-old
brother, Dzhokhar, was on the run.
But Davis said he was uncertain what his intelligence officers
would have made of Tamerlan Tsarnaev's 2012 trip to Dagestan,
Russia, noting that the FBI had interviewed him but found
nothing suspicious and that Russian officials did not tell the
FBI why they were interested in him.
"We would certainly have looked at the information," Davis said.
"We would certainly have talked to the individual." But he
added: "I can't say I would have come to a different conclusion"
than the FBI.
Federal officials defended their actions and suggested local law
enforcement agencies had not fully followed up on possible
threats.
The Homeland Security threat assessment was dated April 10 and
included a map of the Boylston Street finish line area.
Two officials read parts of it to a Times reporter.
"The possibility exists that [homegrown violent extremists]
could attempt an attack by using simple improvised explosive
devices or small-arms tactics against easily accessible low-
security targets," said the report by the Boston Regional
Intelligence Center, which comprises federal and local law
enforcement authorities.
The finish line was the area targeted by the bombers. Both
suspects were spotted on surveillance cameras.
Massachusetts authorities dismissed the center's warning as
routine and lacking specifics.
"The assessment about start and finish lines being potential
targets was considered and reflected in security plans for the
event, as they have been every year," David Procopio, a
spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police, said in a
statement. The wording in the report is "standard language" and
"based on common sense and accumulated expertise in event
security" and not on any specific threat, Procopio said.
"It is akin to saying, in general terms, that airplanes are an
attractive target to terrorists," he said.
Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston
office, said local officials, as members of the Joint Terrorism
Task Force there, had access to the information about the
brothers, as did the FBI. They all had access to law
enforcement's Guardian Threat Tracking System to review
intelligence data, he said.
"Boston [terrorism task force] members, including
representatives from the Boston Police Department , were
provided instruction on using Guardian, including suggestions on
methods for proactively reviewing and establishing customized
searches, which would allow them to be fully informed of all
[task force] activity that may affect Boston and the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts," DesLauriers said.
He added that in 2011 alone, the Boston task force conducted
"approximately 1,000 assessments, including the assessment of
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, which was documented in the Guardian
database."
But Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House
Homeland Security Committee, said, "The idea that the feds have
this information and it's not shared with the state and locals
defies why we created the Homeland Security Department in the
first place."
The 70 so-called fusion centers like the Boston Regional
Intelligence Center were created after the Sept. 11 commission
insisted in 2002 that federal, state and local law enforcement
agencies needed to cooperate more in counter-terrorism and to
analyze potential terrorist activity detected by police.
During a break in the hearing, Police Commissioner Davis was
asked about the warning of a possible terrorism incident near
the finish line.
He said investigators were conducting a thorough review of all
they knew before the bombing and what occurred after.
"A lot has to play itself out yet," he said. "Everything has to
be reviewed."
brian....@latimes.com
richard...@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-boston-
threat-20130510,0,3301080.story
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