The Islamic State, more commonly known as ISIS, has issued a call on social media to its supporters on Saturday to take out police officers, soldiers, intelligence officers and civilians within the United States. As a result, the New York Police Department has been placed on high alert.
According to Mark Morales of the Wall Street Journal, the ISIS video, originally released in September 2014 but posted on Twitter over the weekend, specifically threatened the U.S., France, Australia and Canada. The latest threats from ISIS were made by its spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani.
"Do not let the battle pass you by wherever you may be," al-Adnani said in the video. "Strike their police, security and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents.
Rocco Parascandola and Thomas Tracy of New York Daily News reported that al-Adnani called for more "lone wolf attacks," adding that rocks, knives and cars could be used as weapons against law enforcement in place of "an (improvised explosive device) or a bullet."
"Pay close attention to people as they approach and look for their hands as they approach you," an internal NYPD safety memo obtained by the New York Daily News said.
Lorenzo Ferrigno, Laurie Segall and Evan Perez of CNN reported that the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued similar bulletins across the country. Both the bulletin and NYPD memo highlighted the consistency of the previous threats and messages sent by ISIS and other terrorist groups, including al-Qaida.
"In it, authorities reminded personnel them to stay vigilant in light of the Islamic State video and recent world events, such as the deadly rampage in the newsroom of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday," Morales wrote.
CNN noted that the NYPD's internal memo warned its employees to "remain alert and consider tactics at all times while on patrol," especially given the attacks in France last week. The Wall Street Journal reported that NYPD officers received the internal memo Friday night.
John Miller, the NYPD deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, went on CBS's "Face the Nation" to talk about the ISIS threats.
"I don't think that we are under any more threat ... or any less threat than we were the day before," Miller said.
Miller then added that the NYPD is on a "heightened security posture on a normal day compared to almost any other police department." He also indicated that officers have been studying the recent attacks in France and that more than 1,000 police officers and civilian analysts are assigned to a counterterrorism mission every day, according to CNN.
"It is a renewal of a call that they put out in mid-September before [a] series of attacks in Canada and one in New York City against police officers that occurred in October," Miller said.
