*gulp* Uh oh.


The FBI has triggered a massive manhunt for six people -- four Chinese and two Iraqis -- who may pose a terrorist threat to the city of Boston, law enforcement officials briefed on the threat said today.

The six are suspected of having come into the United States from Mexico, and may have headed to New York and then to Boston, the target of a planned attack that could involve a lethal substance, possibly chemical or biological or explosive, three law enforcement officials briefed on the threat said.

The tip about the threat was given to the FBI by only one person, the officials said, and it had not been corroborated as of this afternoon.

"It's being worked aggressively and shared with our law enforcement partners,'' FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkewicz said.

The state Emergency Management Agency has partially activated its emergency response team, with representatives from the Department of Public Health, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the State Police are monitoring the situation in the emergency bunker in Framingham until the threat has passed.

damn, they changed the globe story. It originally was reported (by one Donovan Slack) that reps from the DPH, the DEP, and the State police were "holed up in the bunker until the threat has passed."

glad to see they actually changed it. and not five minutes after i made fun of them on the air, too :D

Oh geez..

Druge report (typo in their link) says it's a possible dirty bomb attack.

Yeeeee.. Fun nights and days ahead.

Meh- I work in the Hancock Tower. We're the no 1 target. Im not exactly worried.

I bet George Steinbrenner has something to do with this.

Sorry, not making lite of a possible situation, just that we've seen this kind of report before so I haven't placed myself at the high terror alert level yet.

Oh geez..

Druge report (typo in their link) says it's a possible dirty bomb attack.

Yeeeee.. Fun nights and days ahead.


I bet its developing....

right?

I bet its developing....

right?

If it's on Drudge, it's gotta be!

I bet its developing....

right?

Usually it's developing HARD... that's just like developing, except you get a couple of pop-up ads while you're reading.

The link on Drudge was to a netscape News by CNN story.

I hope you've got a good supply of duct tape, Foz.

I hope you've got a good supply of duct tape, Foz.

Are you bringing out the gimp?

I used it all on my cat, is that a bad thing? :D

Yeah, I know.. probable false alarm.. humor is the best policy..

One of my co-workers just wisecracked "Guess that means traffic into the city will be light tonight"

I bet George Steinbrenner has something to do with this.

Sorry, not making lite of a possible situation, just that we've seen this kind of report before so I haven't placed myself at the high terror alert level yet.
You and I think alike. I was trying very hard to avoid all the "all right, all right, I'll admit Peyton Manning is a good QB!" jokes.

I have a lot of family up in this area. Hope this turns out to be a false report, or Law Enforcement comes through yet again.

Any links to a story? Kind of curious if this is something that is like the usual, searchibng for a suspect or if we're talking more of a 'Jack Bauer' searching for a suspect because things hang in the immediate balance.

You and I think alike. I was trying very hard to avoid all the "all right, all right, I'll admit Peyton Manning is a good QB!" jokes.

I have a lot of family up in this area. Hope this turns out to be a false report, or Law Enforcement comes through yet again.

If they really wanted to come through, they could drop it off at Yankee Stadium.

From the NYTimes:

F.B.I. Alerts Boston of Four Terror Suspects
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: January 19, 2005



Filed at 4:54 p.m. ET

BOSTON (AP) -- The FBI notified area law enforcement Wednesday to be on the lookout for four possible terror suspects who may be headed to Boston.

A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter remains under investigation, told The Associated Press that the FBI's joint terrorism task force has not yet corroborated a tip that the suspects entered the United States through Mexico in recent days, possibly bound for Boston.

The official stressed the tip is one of many from around the country that routinely are forwarded to local task forces for further investigation. No credible, specific terror threat has been identified in connection with the latest tip.

The investigation prompted Gov. Mitt Romney, who was in Washington to attend Thursday's presidential inauguration, to decide to return to Boston Wednesday night, his spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom said. The governor planned to hold a news conference to discuss the matter before returning home.

FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said the terror alert had not been raised for Boston.

``Basically, what you have here is information that we often get,'' she said. ``It's been passed on to our law enforcement partners and we're working it aggressively.''

Boston.com has the most details:

hxxp://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/01/19/search_underway_for_six_who_may_pose_terrorist_threat_to_boston/

And Hawaii is preparing to battle the threats:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/01/19/invasive.frogs.ap/index.html

i'll have to keep my eyes peeled when i get up there saturday

See Boston... we warned you about what would happen if the Sox ever won the World Series. We warned you...

See Boston... we warned you about what would happen if the Sox ever won the World Series. We warned you...

It's still worth it :)

If a bomb goes off in Boston and obliterates the World Series trophy...did it ever really happen?

as long as there's a member of Red Sox Nation alive.. yup.. still happened.

And Steinbrenner would be pissed, now he'd NEVER get the WS Trophy back :)

Now it's just the four Chinese guys. Just curious, why China?

So, Foz, you do know where the twinkie factory is, right?

They keep doing "breaking news" updates on tv, in which they essentially say "We know nothing.. and we're not even sure there's anything to know." So far all they've got is an anonymous phone call saying that four chinese people, who aren't on any terrorist list, are in the country illegally. I think it's absolutely nothing and the media is just jumping all over it for no real reason.

I enjoyed making fun of this all day at work.

For reference, I live in a town about 5 miles outside of Boston. So I'd probably be pretty dead in any real attack.

I work in a town abount 15 miles outside of Boston. So I'd probably get the cancer.

As soon as this came up on Boston.com and people started overreacting I immediately started making jokes like:
"well, at least I saw the Sox win a World Series" and "This is nothing. Of course, I say that knowing that if I'm wrong, you won't be able to make fun of me tomorrow."

Good times.

So, Foz, you do know where the twinkie factory is, right?

Twinkie the Kid....Man, that's an awesome Family Guy eposide.

sounds like fun. I'm sure the snow will drive them away anyways. Some coming down, and more expected.

I'm just wondering what the point of releasing this information is. Doesn't it hurt the chances of finding these guys? Won't they be more careful now that they know they are being hunted? Maybe try to diguise themselves?

It would be one thing if they released pics of these guys to the public, so we could be on the lookout for them. But I don't see the point of going publuc with this, unless there is a specific terror threat.

I'm just wondering what the point of releasing this information is. Doesn't it hurt the chances of finding these guys? Won't they be more careful now that they know they are being hunted? Maybe try to diguise themselves?

Don't know, but I bet it sure as heck makes every Chinese barbershop quartet in the greater Boston area pretty damned nervous.

Twinkie the Kid....Man, that's an awesome Family Guy eposide.

heh heh watch out for a bunch of little octo-Stewies. :)

News reports all day long:

"We have this breaking news flash!! There was a single anonymous report of possible dangerous individuals crossing the border with mexico, we know nothing further, but we wanted to make sure we broke the news that we know nothing at all to you FIRST!"

Later in the evening " We still got nothing, more non-news at 10"

Don't know, but I bet it sure as heck makes every Chinese barbershop quartet in the greater Boston area pretty damned nervous.

Hehe. If I looked Chinese and lived in Boston, I would plan on spending the next 3-4 days indoors. And cancel my plans to see the recital.

I'm just wondering what the point of releasing this information is. Doesn't it hurt the chances of finding these guys? Won't they be more careful now that they know they are being hunted? Maybe try to diguise themselves?

It would be one thing if they released pics of these guys to the public, so we could be on the lookout for them. But I don't see the point of going publuc with this, unless there is a specific terror threat.

Well, it helps make people more alert and pay more attention. Plus, they released their photos and names, so it increases the public's "eye".

At the very least, I think this would make the terrorists choose another city. I mean, is there some reason it needs to be Boston?

At the very least, I think this would make the terrorists choose another city. I mean, is there some reason it needs to be Boston?This whole thing sounds suspicious. Maybe there is a lot of other information the FBI hasn't released, but they've said there was one anonymous phone call about 4 Chinese people crossing the Cali border from Mexico and traveling to Boston via New York with explosive material. Never was there anything about nuclear material mentioned. And if they're going to set off a dirty bomb, why drive cross country, then pass through NY to keep traveling to Boston? Wouldn't a city like LA or NY be just as good if not better for the purpose of a dirty bomb?

My completely uninformed speculation is that if the tip is real, it is relating more to gang activity (the Triads, other Asian gangs have essentially taken over) and is not a terrorist action.

The dirty bomb speculation came through a seperate company, who apparently had been told to search for such material (dogs and such, I guess), as part of this.

The article in the Herald made it sound more like the tipster who was ripped off by the people he smuggled and is trying to get revenge on them by getting a manhunt launched and them presumably deported if/when they're caught.

The article in the Herald made it sound more like the tipster who was ripped off by the people he smuggled and is trying to get revenge on them by getting a manhunt launched and them presumably deported if/when they're caught.

That sounds pretty plausible to me--and if so, that would be pretty stupid on the smuggler's part. Not only will they get him on phoning in a false tip related to terrorism, they'll get him on human smuggling too...

Should have just taken the loss (if true)...

they are heading from Boston straight to Solecismic headquarters and demanding Front Office Curling.

That sounds pretty plausible to me--and if so, that would be pretty stupid on the smuggler's part. Not only will they get him on phoning in a false tip related to terrorism, they'll get him on human smuggling too...

Should have just taken the loss (if true)...Not necessarily if he's in Mexico (they mention the photos and names were in a packet literally thrown across the fence from Mexico to the US.)

Not necessarily if he's in Mexico (they mention the photos and names were in a packet literally thrown across the fence from Mexico to the US.)

That certainly changes things. Though if the four illegals are caught, I'm sure they'll want to try to finger the smuggler...

I'm sure they'll want to try to finger the smuggler...

now you're just being gross

now you're just being gross

What? No pixplsthnx?

"nuclear oxide"?

hxxp://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/25/terror.probe.ap/index.html

No big surprise here. Again, if the smuggler wanted revenge, he should have gone after the deadbeats' families or something. Making up a false terror story is just being dumb...

Has the terror alert in Boston lowered to mauve now?

SI

It's still more of a forest green.