Introduction, by Jan B. Tucker
My readers may or may not know that a considerable part of my professional work involves investigation and security consulting regarding parking lots. Aside from the normal aspects security for my clients, like thefts, employee embezzlement and pilferage, shake-downs for phony traffic accident claims and the like, parking lots are part of our nation’s critical infrastructure, just like any other component of our transportation system. Remove any part of the transportation system from the equation in any urban area like Los Angeles and chaos results.
Because of that role and other aspects of my work, I became a member of InfraGard, a private sector organization sponsored by the FBI. People not professionally involved in security or investigation might wonder why the parking industry is so important. Let me give you a couple of real life examples that illustrate the point.
In the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the underground parking lot was critical to the plot to bring down the buildings. As Wikipedia partially explains:
On February 26, 1993, a truck bomb was detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1,336 pounds (606 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device[1] was intended to send the North Tower (Tower 1) crashing into the South Tower (Tower 2), bringing both towers down and killing tens of thousands of people.[2][3] It failed to do so, but did kill six people and injured more than a thousand.[4]
The reason that the plot failed in its ultimate goal was because the rental truck filled with the explosives couldn’t find the right parking spot. It was supposed to park as close as possible to one corner of the building, but there were no spots available.
Have you ever tried to park in the underground garage of the U.S. Bank Building in downtown Los Angeles? You will have to jump through a bunch of hoops that don’t apply to any other building in Los Angeles. My guess is that terrorists have already tested this and know what I’m talking about, but for propriety’s sake I’m not going to go into details in public so nobody else gets ideas about how to avoid the security measures.
Why so much precaution at the U.S. Bank Building? Because it’s the tallest DTLA high rise and as such is a known terrorist target. When an Al Qaeda affiliated cell was busted in Spain the Spanish police found a camera with photos taken in the Bay Area (of San Francisco Bay Area bridges) and of the U.S. Bank Building in Los Angeles. They were casing these locations to assess how to attack them.
On top of these examples, there is at least one individual in the parking industry in Los Angeles who is a naturalized American citizen from a Middle Eastern nation who is a spy and a traitor. I detected his activities, reported him and have worked with the appropriate authorities, but as he has not been arrested (and I assume he’s under continued monitoring for intelligence purposes), I can’t discuss the details.
A few years ago, I participated in a training exercise in which a team of Sheriff’s Deputies swept a Los Angeles subway train during a simulated terrorist attack. I posed as a simple passenger: little did the deputies know or suspect that I was actually a private sector professional myself, and their actions and omissions that night left much to be desired. That said, I was extremely concerned to hear of the plans of Nicholas Teausant-who was last known to be on medication for schizophrenia-to bomb the Los Angeles subway system:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article2607845.html
Just last month, May 2015, two Californians were arrested and indicted on terrorist charges and as alleged in the Federal Affidavit filed in their case (SA-15-CR-275M):
[O]n May 3, 2015, Elhuzayel saw a tweet from Elton Simpson, one of the two gunmen who were killed trying to attack a conference in Garland, Texas. In this tweet, Simpson stated that he and his “bro” had pledged allegiance to the leader of ISIL. In response, Elhuzayel tweeted his support for the attempted attack and praised Simpson as a “martyr.”
In recorded conversations last month, Badawi and Elhuzayel “discussed how it would be a blessing to fight for the cause of Allah, and to die in the battlefield,” and they referred to ISIL as “we.” When Badawi expressed concerns about ISIL struggling due to airstrikes by Coalition forces, Elhuzayel responded that they had to be patient and “can you imagine when al-Qaeda joins with Islamic State?”
… Badawi responded: “We will be huge.” The two men also discussed local Muslim leaders and Elhuzayel complained that these leaders were not “legitimate” because they believed in democracy and were not fighting for an Islamic State. The men discussed where in the Middle East they would rather be, and Elhuzayel said he wanted to fight and did not want to be in the United States.
… On May 7, Badawi allowed Elhuzayel to use his credit card to purchase a one-way airline ticket for travel from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, Israel, via Istanbul, Turkey, on a Turkish Airlines flight scheduled to depart on May 21. Badawi indicated that he would be traveling to the Middle East in the future.
With that said, you should read with great interest the following piece by my friend and colleague, retired CIA Officer and now private sector professional, Robert Dougherty….
Persistence of the Terrorist Threat in California—Robert Dougherty
While the metropolitan Los Angeles area is most certainly number three (behind New York City and Washington D.C.) on Al-Qaida’s Homeland “hit list,” the California area has been spared in the last decade from major, large-scale terrorist attacks or incidents. Much of the credit for this is due to excellent, aggressive law enforcement and intelligence work carried out by the various components of local law enforcement and U.S. Federal Government elements. That said, Al-Qaida has repeatedly tried to carry out terrorist attacks in California in the past, and will continue to do so for the immediate future.
Potential targets for terrorist attacks in California are up-scale shopping malls, local sporting events with large amounts of people present, large commercial office buildings housing businesses and companies, banks and financial centers, transportation networks including major airports and rail, subway and bus lines, and the headquarters of large U.S. companies. These are the type of targets that would most interest Al- Qaida or other Sunni extremist groups to carry out an attack against American economic interests.
We must also remember that Al-Qaida has shown and clear and consistent interest in targeting California in the past:
- In December 1999, Al-Qaida operative Ahmed Ressam was stopped while entering the U.S. from Canada equipped with explosive material to bomb Los Angeles International Airport
- Two of the 9/11 hijackers spent several months in Los Angeles and the San Diego area prior to the 9/11 plot
- There is some indication that in late 2000, several of the 9/11 hijackers in San Diego may have been looking for a ship target in San Diego harbor to attack in conjunction with the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen
- Khalid Shaykh Muhammad (KSM), the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, originally intended the 9/11 attacks to be both a West Coast and East Coast plot
- In late 2001, U.S. forces in Afghanistan identified a possible mockup of the LAX runway system at an Al-Qaida training camp near Qandahar
- In 2002, KSM had developed a follow-on 9/11 plot for Southeast Asian extremists to pilot planes into targets in Los Angeles, notably the Library Tower (now the U.S. Bank building) in downtown Los Angeles
- In late 2003, there were Al-Qaida issued warnings for “all Muslims to leave Los Angeles, New York City and Washington D.C.”
- In 2004, two separate Al-Qaida operatives were tasked with conducting surveillance and looking at possible targets in the Southern California area, including shopping malls
- In 2005, Al-Qaida spokesperson and native-born American convert Adam Gadahn released a video in which he stated Los Angeles was a target for Al-Qaida
- In 2011, letters written by Usama Bin Ladin, and found at his safehouse in Abbottabad, urged Al-Qaida elements to strike at U.S. transportation networks, especially railroad lines in the Western U.S.
Author Contact Information:
Mr. Robert Dougherty, 805-328-0790 [email protected]
About the Author, Robert Dougherty:
Bob Dougherty has worked for the past 25 years (1986 – 2012) as an Operations Officer for the CIA. He has deep operational experience in the U.S., Europe, Central America, South America and the Middle East.
Bob has successfully worked against foreign terrorist groups (as currently or formerly designated by the U.S. Government) such as Al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Sendero Luminoso, Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, the Japanese Red Army, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the various Sunni extremist groups that are offshoots of Al-Qaida. In addition, Bob has extensive experience in working against Iranian State Sponsored Terrorism, and Government of Iran Intelligence and Procurement operations worldwide.
Bob has served as a Subject Matter Expert Instructor for the past ten years (2002 – 2012) on Terrorism and Countering Terrorist Cells inside the U.S. and overseas for a variety of classes attended by law enforcement, U.S. Government federal officers, U.S. Military officers, and civilian specialist first-responders. Bob is also a Subject Matter Expert on all aspects of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) – with a specialized focus on the effective utilization of HUMINT to penetrate and neutralize Terrorist/Extremist networks and cells located within the U.S. and in overseas environments. Bob has personally developed, managed and carried out several high profile operations during his career that lead to the capture of several high profile terrorists, and the effective dismantling of terrorist networks.
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