RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The holiday weekend is almost here, but this year the FBI and Department of Homeland Security has alerted local police agencies to the “heightened threat of attack by ISIL and its supporters”.
The bulletin comes after an attack by an ISIS supporter on a resort last Friday in Tunisia left 38 dead.
“We are facing a significant threat environment right now,” said FBI Special Agent Adam Lee.
Lee says one of the potential threats comes from people living right here in America.
“As we head into the 4th, dealing with ISIS here in the United States that are on social media engaging in certain cases with actors overseas, that causes us great concern those are threats that we are managing very closely,” said Lee.
But this weekend being Independence Day offers a specific reason that outside groups could want to harm Americans.
“They want to do harm to us in a way that sends a message, if we are attacked on the Fourth of July, on our own Independence Day, that’s going to have special meaning for them,” said Lee.
Lee emphasis that there is no specific threat to Richmond, but they are asking everyone to be cautious.
“For folks, just go about their lives, be aware, call us if they see something but don’t hunker indoors,” said Lee.
Virginia State Police says they will have increased patrols only because it is a holiday, but say nothing extra due the terror alert.
“This is a very special time to reflect on what our country, and our values that we hold dear here in our country mean to us,” said Lee.
