Police: No ‘credible threat’ on Mall of America

Published 9:27 am Monday, February 23, 2015

BLOOMINGTON — Authorities said there is “no credible threat” associated with the Mall of America after the release of a video purportedly made by al-Qaida-linked rebels that urges Muslims to attack shopping malls. The video specifically mentions the Bloomington shopping venue.

The Bloomington Police Department issued a statement late Sunday in partnership with the FBI and state law enforcement saying that despite finding no threat, additional security measures had been put in place.

Gov. Mark Dayton’s press secretary Matt Swenson said Sunday that the governor had been in regular contact with state Public Safety Commissioner Mona Dohman throughout the day.

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The threat came in the final minutes of a more than hourlong video released Saturday in which the extremists also warned Kenya of more attacks like the September 2013 assault on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in which 67 people were killed.

The masked narrator concluded by calling on Muslims to attack shopping malls, specifically naming the Mall of America in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, as well as the West Edmonton Mall in Canada and the Westfield mall in Stratford, England. The authenticity of the video could not be immediately verified by The Associated Press.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security provided local law enforcement agencies and private sector partners with “relevant information regarding the recent al-Shabab propaganda video,” DHS press secretary Marsha Catron said in a statement.

“However, we are not aware of any specific, credible plot against the Mall of America or any other domestic commercial shopping center,” Catron said.

The Bloomington Police Department said additional security measures had been put in place at the Mall of America, one of the largest malls in the nation.

Speaking earlier on morning talk shows in the U.S., Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson called the video “the new phase” of the global terrorist threat and warned the public to be vigilant.

“These groups are relying more and more on independent actors to become inspired, drawn to the cause and they’ll attack on their own,” Johnson said, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I am very concerned about serious potential threats of independent actors here in the United States. We’ve seen this now in Europe, we’ve seen this in Canada.”