Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 26 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.

Follow Up to Foiled Park Valley Church Attack

Foiled shooter at Haymarket church competent to stand trial

INSIDENOVA reports:

A man accused of plotting a mass shooting at a Haymarket megachurch last year has been found competent to stand trial on federal hate crime charges.

…

(name omitted), 35, is charged with “attempting to obstruct the congregants of the Park Valley Church in Haymarket, Virginia, in the free exercise of their religious beliefs,” according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.

“The indictment charged that his attempted act involved a dangerous weapon and an attempt to kill, and included both a threats count and a firearms violation,” the release said.

Analyst Comments:

In September of 2023 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, coordination between law enforcement in three different counties in two states, and the church’s security team.

This incident shows the value of suspicious activity reporting, See Something, Say Something, and house of worship security teams.

This incident was highlighted in the following FB-ISAOs:

• Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 26 September 2023 – FB-ISAO (faithbased-isao.org)
• Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 29 September 2023 – FB-ISAO (faithbased-isao.org)
• Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 29 March 2024 – FB-ISAO (faithbased-isao.org)

French Railway Sabotage and Olympic Security Items

• French rail lines disrupted by ‘coordinated sabotage’ ahead of Paris Olympics opening ceremony. France’s high-speed train lines were targeted by multiple “malicious” acts including arson on Friday, in what has been described as “an attack on France” and “coordinated sabotage” to disrupt travel ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The French state railway company SNCF said in a post on X that “a large number of trains were diverted or canceled,” and asked “all travelers who can to postpone their trip and not go to the station.” The operator said the Atlantic, Northern and Eastern high-speed lines were impacted, with damage caused to several of its facilities, adding that one of the acts was “foiled” in the east after SNCF agents scared off several individuals.
• ISIS-K’s online recruitment poses security threat to West ahead of Olympic Games
• Unique Olympics opening ceremony keeps Paris on high alert over security
• Terrorism, Drone Use Among the Security Risks at 2024 Paris Olympics
• DHS: Protecting the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, OR from CBRN Threats