This DAP highlights – Neo-Nazis in Ohio and faith-based organizations targeted by multiple ransomware gangs. DAP also has More Faith-Based Stories and Select All-Hazard Stories. 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.
Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 9 April 2024
Faith-Based Security Headlines
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.
Idaho Man Arrested for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS
From the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) press release:
Alexander Scott Mercurio, 18, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was arrested Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Coeur d’Alene for attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS.
According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Mercurio pledged his allegiance to ISIS and intended to commit attacks on its behalf. He planned to attack individuals at churches in Coeur d’Alene on April 7 using weapons, including knives, firearms, and fire.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) conducted the investigation and thwarted Mercurio’s violent plot. Mercurio is currently in custody awaiting his initial appearance which will be set by the Court.
…
“This case should be an eye-opener to the dangers of self-radicalization, which is a real threat to our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Shohini Sinha of the Salt Lake City FBI. “Protecting the American people from terrorism remains the FBI’s number one priority, and we continue to encourage the public to report anything suspicious to the FBI or your local law enforcement.”
PDF of DOJ 48-page criminal complaint.
Related articles:
- Idaho teen arrested for allegedly plotting to attack church in name of ISIS
- Champions League ties to go ahead amid terror threat
Analyst Comment:
This lone offender planned to attack churches in support of ISIS. In addition to firearms, he planned to use edged weapons and Fire as a Weapon. While active shooters are a serious threat, other methods of attack should be considered, including Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attacks and Fire as a Weapon.
Special Agent in Charge Sinha’s comments are relevant to Faith-Based Organizations’ (FBO) security posture. Self-radicalization is a real threat to FBOs and reporting suspicious activities to the FBI, or your local law enforcement, is also important.
Suspicious activities can be reported on the FBI’s Electronic Tip Form or to local law enforcement. As the Tip website states, in an emergency, call 911.
FB-ISAO’s 8 April 2024 Daily Awareness Post highlighted that US intel warns of potential terrorist threat at gatherings after Moscow attack.
FB-ISAO’s Daily Awareness Posts on 27 March 2024 and 25 March 2024 provide a variety of resources to protect soft targets and crowded places from lone offenders and other threats.
Additionally, Faith-Based ISAO’s website provides resources in the Resource Library, including information on Securing Facilities and People.
More Faith-Based Stories
Cincinnati police searching for person suspected of robbing woman at Oakley church
Vandal with a hammer smashes Brooklyn Mormon church window
MS: Ellisville man jailed for breaking into church in Richton
PA: Bomb threat prompts search at Berks County church, but nothing found
Communion wafers found discarded in parking lot of West Virginia church after Easter Mass
Pro-Nazi Graffiti Discovered in Florida Residential Area
MA: Longwood Green Line stop defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti, Brookline says
California University Speaker Has Students Recite Genocidal Slogan at Required Presentation
Pro-Hamas Harvard Group Erects Antisemitic ‘Apartheid Wall’
CA: Suspect arrested in SF scam involving ‘blessing’ items before stealing them, police say
Fugitive Florida pastor arrested in Texas after fleeing sexual battery, molestation charges
North Carolina church fires pastor over admitted sexual misconduct: ‘Lord brought judgment’
Third leader at televangelist Mark Barclay’s church investigated for sex abuse crimes
ISIL members involved in İstanbul church attack among 48 detained: minister
Lebanese Christian official kidnapped, sectarian tensions flare
China denies knowledge of monk it arrested for protesting with Dalai Lama portrait
Police investigate after attack on German synagogue, none injured and Germany: Hundreds march in solidarity after synagogue attack
Marseille Great Synagogue vandalized with ‘Free Gaza’ graffiti during philosopher’s lecture
Vatican Document Casts Gender Change and Fluidity as Threat to Human Dignity and Vatican blasts gender-affirming surgery, surrogacy and gender theory as violations of human dignity
Select All-Hazards Stories
Prosecutions of threats hit a record high in 2023, researchers confirm
US, Japan, Australia and the Philippines to stage military drills in disputed South China Sea
Unfounded reports of shooter at Dolphin Mall spark panic, large police response
Sen. Bernie Sanders’s office in Vermont caught fire. Arson is suspected, but the motive is unclear and Man arrested for setting fire to door of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Burlington office
String of deaths among Indian students in US raises alarm across community
Bomb threats follow Libs of TikTok’s campaign against Planet Fitness and Bomb threats reported at Planet Fitness locations in Northern Va. amid transgender controversy and Police: Planet Fitness locations evacuated after bomb threats
20 Pomona College protesters arrested after storming, occupying president’s office
Anti-Israel Demonstrators Illegally Raise Palestine Flags at California Municipal Building
Germany: Police charge suspect in Halle bomb-making case
CISA’s ‘Cyber Storm’ will help it update National Cyber Incident Response Plan
Key Bridge Updates:
- Key Bridge Response 2024
- Baltimore’s port could be fully functional by end of May, Maryland’s governor says
- Crews begin removing containers from the ship that collapsed Baltimore bridge
Severe Weather Across the South May Impede Solar Eclipse Viewing National Weather Service
The potential terrorist use of large language models for chemical and biological terrorism [AI and large language models (LLMs)]
US Environmental Protection Agency hack exposes data of 8.5 million users
Fake Facebook MidJourney AI page promoted malware to 1.2 million people
Beware the Blur: Phishing Scam Drops Byakugan Malware via Fake PDF
New effort to “inoculate” U.S. voters against AI misinformation
‘Social Order Could Collapse’ in AI Era, Two Top Japan Companies Say
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