The Overview of Targeted Malls
The U.S. intelligence community have collected information of a domestic security threat. The Al-Qaeda and ISIL extremists have a plan of attacking the heavily congested malls in America this shopping holiday. The operatives have been in the country for almost one year and already recruited Americans to carry out the attack. The attackers will be two terrorists per mall, the date set is September 11, 2021 at 2:00PM EDT. The targeted malls include; Mall of America in Minnesota, America Dream in New Jersey, King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania, Aventura Mall in Florida, The Galleria in Texas, Destiny USA in New York, Woodfield Mall in Illinois, Lakewood Center in California, Arundel Mills and Sawgrass in Florida (Property Manager Insider, 2021).
The targeted malls can each occupy more than a thousand shoppers at a go. The buildings are story and thus if they collapse they can cause enormous damage of life and property. The security manning the malls is a bit relaxed. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the security personnel’s have concentrated on ensuring shoppers entering the malls are keeping distance, measuring their temperatures and have protective gears like the mask. Little is being done, if any on screening shoppers. All the malls pose high risk factors.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Capabilities
The DHS has the capacity of tracking the illegal immigrants and deporting them back to their nations. The department has access of immigrant’s records that it can use to respond to security threats. The Department has also strengthened information sharing within states, local and tribal law enforcement agencies and communities (DHS, n.d.). This enables the department in detecting and frustrating planned attacks at early stages as stakeholders on the ground are trained on spotting suspicious activities in their surrounding and “blowing the whistle.”
The other capability that DHS has is screening airport employees and passengers. The department is well equipped with modern screening gadgets. For instance, in case of a security threat as the one discussed above, the department can use its tools to screen all shoppers entering in the mall. The department also trains local government, faith based organizations and communities on preparedness and resilience. This is because these are the first responders in case of an attack. The trainings include; first aid, home maintenance, among others. This inculcates a culture of preparedness to the citizens (DHS, n.d.).
Current Threats to the United States
The current threats that the nation faces include; cyber threats, economic security, lone offender attacks, foreign influence on domestic activities, illegal immigration, among other threats. Russia and China are major nations likely to attack the U.S through cyber espionage. This may be through demanding their nationals working with U.S administration or firms to disclose domestic information or through hacking systems. The happenings like Covid-19 are meant to destabilize economic activities. This may have a lasting damage on the nation’s economic strength. Foreign nations like Russia will engage in the nations domestic issues not to help but to further its interests (DHS, 2020).
The lone wolves are another domestic threat. These are individuals who carry out attack without being associated with a terror group. These individuals are hard to detect because they have no communication that can be traced by the security agencies. This is where attacks associated with radicalization and white supremacy emanate from (DHS, 2020). The economic hardships that has hit nations may trigger the illegal mass movement of people from their nation to America. This is an area border patrols need to look on.
The U.S. intelligence community have collected information of a domestic security threat. The Al-Qaeda and ISIL extremists have a plan of attacking the heavily congested malls in America this shopping holiday. The operatives have been in the country for almost one year and already recruited Americans to carry out the attack. The attackers will be two terrorists per mall, the date set is September 11, 2021 at 2:00PM EDT. The targeted malls include; Mall of America in Minnesota, America Dream in New Jersey, King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania, Aventura Mall in Florida, The Galleria in Texas, Destiny USA in New York, Woodfield Mall in Illinois, Lakewood Center in California, Arundel Mills and Sawgrass in Florida (Property Manager Insider, 2021).
The targeted malls can each occupy more than a thousand shoppers at a go. The buildings are story and thus if they collapse they can cause enormous damage of life and property. The security manning the malls is a bit relaxed. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the security personnel’s have concentrated on ensuring shoppers entering the malls are keeping distance, measuring their temperatures and have protective gears like the mask. Little is being done, if any on screening shoppers. All the malls pose high risk factors.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Capabilities
The DHS has the capacity of tracking the illegal immigrants and deporting them back to their nations. The department has access of immigrant’s records that it can use to respond to security threats. The Department has also strengthened information sharing within states, local and tribal law enforcement agencies and communities (DHS, n.d.). This enables the department in detecting and frustrating planned attacks at early stages as stakeholders on the ground are trained on spotting suspicious activities in their surrounding and “blowing the whistle.”
The other capability that DHS has is screening airport employees and passengers. The department is well equipped with modern screening gadgets. For instance, in case of a security threat as the one discussed above, the department can use its tools to screen all shoppers entering in the mall. The department also trains local government, faith based organizations and communities on preparedness and resilience. This is because these are the first responders in case of an attack. The trainings include; first aid, home maintenance, among others. This inculcates a culture of preparedness to the citizens (DHS, n.d.).
Current Threats to the United States
The current threats that the nation faces include; cyber threats, economic security, lone offender attacks, foreign influence on domestic activities, illegal immigration, among other threats. Russia and China are major nations likely to attack the U.S through cyber espionage. This may be through demanding their nationals working with U.S administration or firms to disclose domestic information or through hacking systems. The happenings like Covid-19 are meant to destabilize economic activities. This may have a lasting damage on the nation’s economic strength. Foreign nations like Russia will engage in the nations domestic issues not to help but to further its interests (DHS, 2020).
The lone wolves are another domestic threat. These are individuals who carry out attack without being associated with a terror group. These individuals are hard to detect because they have no communication that can be traced by the security agencies. This is where attacks associated with radicalization and white supremacy emanate from (DHS, 2020). The economic hardships that has hit nations may trigger the illegal mass movement of people from their nation to America. This is an area border patrols need to look on.
