- The FBI director has issued a stark warning about the increased possibility of a coordinated terrorist attack in the United States.
- Christopher Wray told NBC that such an attack “may not be that different from what you saw against a concert hall in Russia.”
- The FBI had opened 4,000 investigations into international terrorism by the end of the 2023 fiscal year.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned of the increased possibility of a coordinated terrorist attack in the United States.
Wray told NBC News that the FBI was “increasingly concerned about the potential for some sort of coordinated attack here in the country.”
Explaining that such an event “may not be that different from what you saw against the concert hall in Russia a few weeks ago from ISIS-K.”
The attack on a Moscow concert hall on March 22 killed at least 144 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in 20 years.
Wray has previously raised concerns about the elevated terrorism threat, telling a House panel earlier this month that the current terrorism threat is the highest he can remember in his career.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has issued a stark warning about the increased possibility of a coordinated terrorist attack in the United States.
Wray told NBC that such an attack “may not be that different from what you saw against the concert hall in Russia.”
The attack on a Moscow concert hall on March 22 killed at least 144 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in 20 years.
“Looking back on my career in law enforcement, I would be hard-pressed to think of a time when so many threats to our public safety and our national security were so high at the same time,” he said. told the panel.
The FBI had opened 4,000 investigations into international terrorism by the end of fiscal 2023, according to Wray’s testimony.
Wray told NBC that the terrorist threat to the United States increased after Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7.
“We believed that even before October 7,” he explained, “the terrorist threat was already high.”
“After October 7, the situation went to a whole new level.”
Speaking about the increasingly hostile international environment and the potential repercussions of terror, Wray added: “Whether it’s the threat from China, from Russia, from Iran, (there is) terrorist threats both foreign terrorist threats and domestic terrorist threats.”
Wray, appointed by Trump in 2017, is campaigning in Congress to secure more funding for his agency.
The FBI’s budget for fiscal 2024 is $500 million short of what was needed to maintain its current functions, Reuters reported.
The FBI had opened 4,000 investigations into international terrorism by the end of fiscal 2023, according to Wray’s testimony.
Wray and the FBI were the target of former President Trump’s ire, arguing they had unfairly targeted him in their investigations.
Trump recently called on Congress to cut funding for the agency, while calling the FBI and Justice Department “vicious monsters.”
The increasingly virulent attacks on the office have led to an increase in attacks on its employees and buildings, according to Reuters.
“We have seen a substantial increase in threats against FBI personnel and facilities between fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2023,” Wray told Congress.
Adding: “In fact, we have created a dedicated unit to try to resolve these problems. »
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the March attack on Crocus City Hall.
ISIS released shocking images showing the terrorists firing indiscriminately into the crowd of 6,000 people inside the concert hall.
Four suspects were arrested hours after the attack and appeared to have been beaten before appearing in a Russian court.
Footage of brutal interrogation sessions by Russian security forces has emerged online, with reports that at least one of the suspects suffered electric shocks, the BBC reported.
President Vladimir Putin said: “We know that the crime was committed by radical Islamists, supporters of an ideology against which the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries.”
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