Threats get made by extremists in Somalia and the Department of Homeland Security springs into action…. to distance themselves from comments made by DHS security secretary, Jeh Johnson.
Johnson stated last Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union that, “Anytime a terrorist organization calls for an attack on a specific place, we’ve got to take that seriously,” he said, calling for caution by those visiting US malls, specifically the Mall of America.
“This latest statement from Al-Shabaab reflects the new phase we’ve evolved to in the global terrorist threat, in that you have groups such as Al-Shabaab and ISIL publicly calling for independent actors in their homelands to carry out attacks,” Johnson said.
As though in response to Johnson’s fears, Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Marsha Catron said in a statement, “We are not aware of any specific, credible plot against the Mall of America or any other domestic commercial shopping center,” She noted, however, that federal agents have shared the information with local law enforcement and, “private sector partners.”
Al-Shabaab has quite a bit of experience when it comes to terrorizing shopping malls; they were behind the 2013 attack on Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya, resulting in 60 civilian deaths. This weekend, the group had released a video calling for more ‘Westgate-style’ attacks in the West against, “American or Jewish shopping centers.”
