House intel chief: No credible threat against NYC
There is no credible terrorist threat against New York City, despite a new video circulating from the Islamic State, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday.
The propaganda video threatened attacks on New York City, officials confirmed Thursday. The video showed images of bombs and suicide bombers getting ready for an attack, as well as scenes from Times Square.
The video raised concerns and came at a time of heightened security vigilance after shooting and bomb attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 killed 130 people.
Islamic State releases video threatening attack on New York City
But Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., who heads the intelligence panel, told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that there is “no credible threat that we know about,” but that threats must be investigated.
“Because so many terrorists have gotten so good at their operational security, we just don’t know what we don’t know,” Nunes said. “There is nothing specific except for the threats that they’ve been putting out there on the Internet.”
“At this point, we have to take everything seriously,” Nunes added.
The head of the Homeland Security, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, also said "we don't have any specific and credible evidence of a plot under way." But he warned on CBS's "Face the Nation" that 70 Islamic State followers had been arrested in the U.S. during the last year and 1,000 investigations are continuing nationwide.
"That gives you idea of the magnitude of what the FBI and homeland officials are looking at," McCaul said, with New York City ramping up its security. “There may be plots under way and communications under way that we just quite frankly can’t see. I think that’s one of the biggest challenges that we face right now."
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had said earlier that city officials were working closely with the FBI and other federal agencies to evaluate threats.
“It is important to note that there is no credible and specific threat against New York City,” de Blasio said.
New York Police Commissioner William Bratton had called the video is "a mish-mosh" of old Islamic State propaganda videos and that there is no blatant new threat.