U.S. Malls on Alert After Al-Shabab Assault in Nairobi

The Daily Beast ^ | September 24, 2013 | Miranda Green and Eli Lake

[2ndDivisionVet]

The Department of Homeland Security is urging shopping malls in the United States to increase security in the aftermath of the carnage wrought by al Qaeda’s Somalia affiliate over the weekend in Nairobi.

Malachy Kavanagh, a spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers, told The Daily Beast on Monday that the department contacted shopping malls Sunday to check on the precautions they were taking against mass shooters.

U.S. intelligence officials say there is no specific threat information suggesting that al Qaeda is planning a similar kind of mass shooting in American shopping malls. Nonetheless, security experts worry about copycats.

“There could be copycats,” said Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. McCaul said he was concerned about psychologically unstable people or radicalized Americans looking at the images from the Westgate mall in Nairobi and seeking to carry out a similar attack in the United States.

“After 9/11 we had the two shooters who ran up and down the East Coast,” he said. McCaul stressed that the two men, known as the D.C. snipers, were not connected to al Qaeda. But he said, “You could have someone who is mentally unstable, and this is their unhealthy way to draw attention to themselves.”

A Department of Homeland Security official on Monday confirmed that the department was recently in communication with “commercial facilities, which include shopping centers and malls in the United States.” The official added, “At this time, there is no indication of a threat to the homeland related to the incident in Nairobi.”

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

The Mall of America, the biggest shopping mall in the United States, has already increased security measures in response to the Nairobi mall siege over the weekend.

“Mall of America continues to monitor the tragic events unfolding in Kenya with the help of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies,” said a spokesman for the mall. “Mall of America has implemented extra security precautions. Some may be noticeable to guests, and others won’t be. We will continue to follow the situation, along with law enforcement, and will remain vigilant as we always do in similar situations.”

The giant shopping mall is in Bloomington, Minnesota, less than 20 minutes from Minneapolis, which boasts a vibrant Somali-American community, from which al Qaeda’s Somalia affiliate, Al-Shabab, has been recruiting heavily.

Shootings in American shopping malls are not uncommon. Two women were killed at a San Francisco mall in July, and last Christmas two were fatally shot in a mall in Portland, Oregon, before the shooter turned the gun on himself.

In 2007 a Somali man with ties to al Qaeda was arrested for plotting to bomb a mall in Columbus, Ohio. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support for terrorists and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Many of the malls contacted by DHS on Sunday said they were implementing additional security precautions as a result of the events in Nairobi.

“Most [shopping] centers have their own security in place, and they could increase that, meaning they would bring in extra security officers, put more security officers in uniform to be a more obvious presence,” said Kavanagh. “They would reach out to local law enforcement officers and ask them to increase patrols in the centers.”

Echoing McCaul, Kavanaugh said the biggest fear among management at U.S. shopping malls was that ambitious copycats would draw inspiration from Nairobi.

“The U.S. security industry follows world events,” he said, “because the fear is [that] like what you saw at the Navy Yard or in Sandy Hook, that you can have an individual who is mentally deranged or someone who has been radicalized who would carry out a copycat attack.”

[LeoWindhorse]

carry eggs.....

[Tax-chick]

Maybe you were thinking of a Walmart.

[OKCharles]

Malls in the liberal utopias like Chicago would be the terrorists most likely target. Nobody will have guns to shoot back.

[Psalm 73]

I don’t always carry - but the mall is one place I surely pack. What with the roving junior gangstas and the car-jacking in the parking lots (and I live in the ‘burbs).

[gaijin]

Remember when they said, “Hey if we change the way we live then THE TERRORISTS WIN..!!”

Remember that..?

Remember when a person accused of something would retort, “Hey, it’s a FREE COUNTRY..!”

Remember that..?

Just prevent immigration by Bad People, and you will mostly solve the problem.

[silverleaf]

I am sorry to hear that you lost a friend

one of my friends caught a knife in her back just walking into a hotel lobby in Cairo...spontaneous jihad

RIP to our friends

[hal ogen]

So nobama arms jihadist moozlum idiots in the middle east, allows the borders to be open for jihadist moozlums, provides moozlum jihadists with immigration preferences throughout the US...and now we are subjected to more limitations of OUR freedom because they are worried we might get hurt by moozlum terrorists! Something is wrong with this picture...very wrong.

[workerbee]

“After 9/11 we had the two shooters who ran up and down the East Coast,” he said. McCaul stressed that the two men, known as the D.C. snipers, were not connected to al Qaeda.

Other than being Muslim.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Two of the malls closest to me are pretty much dead. So the joke will be on them.

[Last Dakotan]

The giant shopping mall is in Bloomington, Minnesota, less than 20 minutes from Minneapolis, which boasts a vibrant Somali-American community, from which al Qaeda’s Somalia affiliate, Al-Shabab, has been recruiting heavily.

Taking in welfare an sitting on your ass is now consider vibrant?

[Cicero]

I’m waiting for Obummy to announce that the TSA will now be stationed at all major shopping malls.

Any day now, everyone will have to take their shoes off when entering a mall.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Such carnage will eventually happen here in the U.S.A. The cause will be that fact that the American people have become to sick to throw out those that will cause the problem. By way of contrast we did have such strength in WWII sufficient to control a potentially threatening population.(I did not say the means used to control was nice, warm and fuzzy. I did say we and our then leadership had the strength to govern!) To put it another way at this time in history our society and government can no longer excrete!

In addition, those Third World people recently placed in positions of authority have demanded that more of the Third World populace be brought into the country so that the current Third World coup with its attendant power can be consolidated.

[Dead Corpse]

I had no plans to visit any of the US Malls local to me.

Doubly so now...

[Last Dakotan]

Wouldn’t it just be simpler if we all just learned the name of Mohammed’s mother?

[Las Vegas Ron]

Which he did when he spotted the Concealed Carry civilian draw his weapon.

IIRC, it was a young man who actually had a bead on the perp but didn't fire because of people behind him.

Either way, it caused the perp to end it on his own...chalk one up for the good guys!

[massgopguy]

If you see a dozen Muslim “women” in full Burkas walk into the Mall. Check their feet for combat boots. Then open fire.

[bmwcyle]

And so it begins.

[grania]

I've become very leary of parking lots, especially those that don't have any human supervision. I just plain don't like indoor garages. I won't walk anywhere outside of my neighborhood walks that doesn't have a critical mass of people there.

Paranoid? Yeah, a little. It's easier than worrying about if I'm safe, since I know that these parameters keep me aa safe as possible.

[real saxophonist]

Note to Al-Queda: Don’t even bother with the Greeley Mall. About 40% occupancy, never more than 300 people in there.

[ExSoldier]

get rid of the ‘gun free zone’ signs, and you’ll have a whole army of hidden defenders...

I go to the mall with my wife frequently. I always carry. See here in South Florida the local ordinance says (Re: Guns forbidden zones):

"If you carry a concealed weapon on posted property, and you are detected, you may be asked to leave the premises. If you return and are still armed and are again detected, you may be arrested for trespass after warning, a misdemeanor."

So it comes down to the policy of the property owner, not a violation of criminal law. Tell you what, I'll violate anybody's dang policy to keep my wife and myself safe. Not to mention the sheep in the area.