Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 2 July 2024

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.

‘Donation bomber’ won’t face charges for bringing suspicious packages to Cocoa churches

Surveillance showed the man dropping off the packages, but now the state attorney’s office says what was written in them was so confusing and vague it doesn’t think (name omitted), 64, actually planned on blowing up the churches. Sheriff Wayne Ivey called the packages “dangerous” and “idiotic,” but the state attorney’s office concluded (name omitted) was just sharing his political views. The state attorney’s office shared a statement with News 6′s James Sparvero that reads, “In this case, our ability to prove that (name omitted) committed the offense of making a written threat to kill was hindered by the confusing language that lacked a clear and specific threat to a person or group. (name omitted)’s statements to law enforcement when interviewed claimed his intent was not to offer a threat, but to educate organizations on his personal political views.

Related Articles from May 2024:

• Bomb squad at Clearlake Baptist Church-packaged marked “bomb” with swastikas brought inside

• Suspicious package with swastika, ‘bomb’ message left at Cocoa church

Analyst Comments:

The above item is a follow up to an incident that occurred 12 May 2024 and was reported in FB-ISAO’s 13 May 2024 Daily Awareness Post.

While the Clearlake Baptist Church suspicious package was not an explosive device, it is still probably best to let law enforcement handle all suspicious packages. Faith-Based Organizations should consider not bringing suspicious or threatening packages into their facility. It should also be considered that threats and vandalism can escalate to more violent incidents.  

Faith-Based Organizations can find additional suspicious package guidance in the following resources.

• The US Postal Service Inspectors provide Poster 84 – Suspicious Mail or Packages to help identify suspicious packages.
• 28-page Bomb Threat Guide from CISA and the FBI.
• Campus Security 9 Bomb Threat Preparedness and Response Considerations
• CISA’s Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP) provides a wide range of resources and training.

‘Local Residents’ Terrorizing City Council Meetings Were Actually Overseas, Feds Allege

In May, the U.S. Department of Justice charged a Syrian man living in Albania as one of the orchestrators of a series of “Zoom Bombings” in which people terrorized city council proceedings in Fresno, California with racist and antisemitic threats, white nationalist propaganda, and hateful rhetoric during the “public comment” portion of public meetings over Zoom, according to court records. The criminal complaint states that the leaders of this group lived in Albania and the United Arab Emirates, and that they organized in part with American teenagers over a Roblox-owned chat app called Guilded.

Analyst Comments:

In May, FB-ISAO posted Best Practices for Securing Your Streaming Services. Faith-Based Organizations should consider reviewing this material when planning streaming services.