“I absolutely believe this is going to be an ongoing trend, and it’s going to increase,” she said.
Last year, federal investigators stopped two southwest Ohio men they said were planning terror attacks.
In January 2015, Christopher Cornell of Hamilton County was arrested for an alleged plot to bomb the U.S. Capitol and shoot government officials. In May, Munir Abdulkader of West Chester Twp. was arrested after he reportedly planned to join ISIS, kill police officers and a military officer and purchased an AK-47.
Oroszi noted FBI data that cited hundreds of investigations into potential ISIS-inspired extremists and hundreds or thousands of Americans watching “recruitment propaganda” over social media. Oroszi co-authored “Weapons of Mass Psychological Destruction and the People Who Use Them,” published this year.
Authorities apprehended 28-year-old Ahmad Khan Rahami after a gun battle Monday in Linden, N.J. The suspect, a naturalized citizen from Afghanistan, was wanted for questioning in connection with a bombing that injured 29 in New York City, and a pipe bomb explosion before a charity race Saturday in Seaside, N.J., authorities said.
An Ohio congressman said such attacks “are already more common.”
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, “nearly every attack on U.S. soil has been a lone wolf attack,” said U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Lone wolf attacks on soft targets are the easiest to carry out,” he said. “They don’t require significant coordination and so they are more difficult for law enforcement to discover the plots before they are executed. They are still thwarting these types of attacks, but it’s very difficult to stop them all.”
Fighting terrorist groups overseas and disrupting communication that would inspire others is key to stopping terrorism in the United States, he said.
In Southwest Ohio there’s the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Executive Committee that has stopped would-be terrorists, said West Chester Police Sgt. John Kleinfeldt, whose department has been involved since the formation of the task force in 2002.
But softer targets such as the Orlando nightclub killings of 49 and the attack at an office in San Bernardino seem to be the trend, said Glen Duerr, assistant professor of international studies at Cedarville University. They are also more attractive to terrorists because it causes “mass panic,” he said.
Terrorism watch
Brian Quinn, chief of operations for the Ohio Statewide Terrorism Analysis and Crime Center, said preventing and responding to terrorism threats depends on citizens willingness to report suspicious activity and on local, state and federal authorities working together to share information.
Quinn said tips can be shared via the smart phone app, Safer Ohio, or through the state’s hotline, (877) 647-4683.
All Butler County Sheriff’s Office employees, from deputies to supervisors, receive Incident Command System training, said Capt. Lance Bunnell.
“It is a formatted way to organize a response,” Bunnell said.
The Butler County Bomb Squad also receives specialize training and information about trends law enforcement in the nation are seeing about bomb making.
“You know it used to be if we saw a backpack on the street, we would walk over, unzip it and see what was in it,” Bunnell said. “We don’t do that anymore.”
Wright-Patterson remained at the current threat level of Bravo on Monday despite the terror attacks in New York City and New Jersey, according to a base spokesman.
“While we do not discuss our security tactics, techniques and procedures, our Security Forces and individual unit security managers constantly vary specific security measures to ensure we do not set a predictable pattern, especially during major events like the Air Force Marathon,” spokesman Daryl Mayer said in an email.
The base hosted more than 15,000 runners and thousands of spectators from around the world Saturday at the Air Force Marathon, the same day a 5K Marine charity run in New Jersey reported a pipe bomb exploding in a trash container prior to the start of the race. No injuries were reported in that incident.
Mayer said Monday the Air Force Marathon has had no security incidents.
State Rep. Rick Perales, R-Beavercreek, who is vice chairman of the Ohio House Public Safety Committee, said communication between local, state and federal authorities is much improved over the pre 9/11 days.
But soft targets, such as a recreational running race, is more challenging. Perales noted that it’s difficult to secure every mile of a marathon route or protect every weekend festival.
“These are the kind of things that these guys (at the Terrorism Analysis and Crime Center) are looking at daily and analyzing and figuring out what to do,” Perales said.
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