Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 26 September 2023

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against,and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

VA man who made threats against church arrested after showing up to Sunday service armed with gun, knives

A tragedy was averted at a house of worship in a suburb of Washington, DC. The successful outcome of the incident involved a suspicious activity report by a citizen, law enforcement in three different counties in two states, and the church’s security team. 

A person in Maryland notified a Maryland police department of suspicious social media posts made by 35-year-old Rui Jiang. The Maryland police department notified the Virginia police department where Jiang lived. It was determined that Jang’s vague threats included a church in a different Virginia county.  Information on his car was relayed to the county police department where the church was located, leading to Jiang’s arrest.

Fox 5 – Washington, DC reported:

“A multi-agency police effort led to the arrest of a man they say showed up to Sunday morning services at a church in Haymarket armed with a gun and several knives.

Around 10:15 a.m. on Sept. 24, police responded to Park Valley Church where they arrested 35-year-old Rui Jiang. Jiang was found to be in possession of a loaded handgun along with an additional magazine, folding knife and a folding “credit card” style knife.

…

“Law enforcement credits the concerned citizen who contacted police regarding these suspicious online postings, joint law enforcement efforts from multiple police agencies, and the staff of Park Valley Church for their vigilance. We encourage everyone to see something, say something,” Prince William County police said in a statement.”

The BullRunNow.com  reported that:

“An off-duty, uniformed Prince William County police officer working a detail assignment at the church located the unoccupied vehicle belonging to the accused in the parking lot.

At around the same time, staff at the church were monitoring a suspicious person who was determined to be the accused who was on the premises. The off-duty officer and church staff coordinated and detained the accused near the entrance without incident.”

WTOP News reported that:

“Not knowing about the threat at the time, Pastor Barry White said as Sunday services went on, his security team was already keeping a close eye on Jiang because he entered the church wearing all black clothing and black sunglasses.

“It was a rainy day; you didn’t really need to wear sunglasses and the fact that he was wearing them and wearing them inside the building … our guys flagged that right off the bat,” White said.”

Analyst Comments:

FB-ISAO members will find some good member observations in FB-ISAO Slack.

Yesterday, September 25 was If You See Something, Say Something® #SeeSayDay. The timing of this incident shows the importance of immediately reporting something suspicious. This report had to travel though three local law enforcement agencies to bring about the arrest of the would be attacker while he was inside the targeted church.

A concerned citizen reporting suspicious activity to the authorities, law enforcement coordination across multiple jurisdictions, and robust house of worship security prevented a tragedy from occurring.

Information on the See Something, Say Something campaign can be found here.

Citizens and Faith-Based Organizations should know their local, regional, and state tip lines and suspicious activity reporting (SAR) processes.

The FBI also has an online tip form at Electronic Tip Form.

The following resources are available from DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and other federal partners:

• Mitigating Attacks on Houses of Worship – Security Guide (cisa.gov)
• Protecting Places of Worship: Six Steps to Enhance Security Against Targeted Violence (cisa.gov)
• Security of Soft Targets and Crowded Places-Resources Guide.
• First Responder Toolbox: Reporting Suspicious Activity – Critical for Terrorism Prevention

As always, FB-ISAO’s website has valuable resources at Resource Library – FB-ISAO (faithbased-isao.org).

White House Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships – 9/29 Invitation: Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships Engagement Call.

You are invited to join the next Faith and Neighborhood Partnerships call on Friday, September 29, at 12:30 pm EST. Friday’s call will feature several special guests. More information to come. You can register for the call below.

Date:  Friday, September 29^th, 2023

Time: 12:30 PM ET

Register HERE

Weekly Security Sprint EP 35. Yes, Virginia, Jen is a big deal, plus security planning, scams, threat TTPs, and more!

The Gate 15 Security Sprint is a weekly rundown of the week’s notable all-hazards security news, risks, and threats, as well as some of the key focus areas for organizations to consider behind the headlines. Gate 15 team members discuss physical security, cybersecurity, natural hazards, health threats and other issues across the all-hazards threat environment.

In this week’s Security Sprint, Dave and Andy talk about:

• CISA: New Product – Protecting Houses of Worship: Perimeter Security Considerations Infographic
• Selected faith-based reports
• TikTok Shoplifting Threats
• Jen Walker, Superstar, and Ransomware Resilience
• Private Public Partnership
• Key Takeaways from the 2023 Security Summit Hosted at the Fortinet Championship
• Morocco disaster scams & misinformation on social media

The above Gate 15 Weekly Security Sprint website also provides links to many security-related items of interest.