A month ago a man a couple dozen rifles murdered 58 people at a concert. A few weeks ago an imported terrorist (Thanks George GW Bush and Chuck Schumer) murdered 8 with a rented pickup. In 1995 a domestic terrorist used another rented truck and a homemade bomb to murder over 100 at a federal office. Last year a domestic terrorist used a rifle to murder 5 cops in Dallas.
What ties all together? They wanted to murder multiple people for various reasons (McVeigh for revenge on the Waco incident, Sayfullo Saipov wanted to get his virgins, Micah Xavier Johnson to avenge black men and we still have no idea why Stephen Paddock committed his murders). Most of the were not on "official radar" like the Boston Bombing suspects, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev (and the FBI was nice enough to not advise the local cops....thanks Eric Holder, Robert Muller and James Comey).
Well, a look at why using a car as a weapon is such a challenge to combat.
Why vehicle attacks, ISIS' preferred method of terror, are so hard to prevent
Stopping the kind of vehicular attacks like the one that killed eight people in New York City on Tuesday afternoon has been a top concern for law enforcement agencies worldwide in the wake of deadly attacks in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and now the U.S.
But experts say it's also one of the hardest threats to predict and guard against.
"This kind of attack is very difficult, and probably the most difficult, for law enforcement to protect and prevent," said Steve Gomez, former FBI agent and ABC News contributor.
The main reason why the suspect in the New York attack, 29-year-old New Jersey resident Sayfullo Saipov, wasn't on authorities' radar was because he didn't buy a gun, Gomez said. Instead, he was armed with a pellet gun and paintball gun, so the government would not have been able to monitor any firearm purchases, he said.
Without him purchasing a gun, the only other way investigators would have been able to "truly detect and prevent this" would have been an "aggressive investigation" into his associates, Gomez said.
Here are a few of the reasons why guarding against vehicle attacks can be so difficult:
A general threat from ISIS is always in existence
Ever since ISIS instructed its followers to deploy the use of large vehicles to attack crowds two years ago, the general threat has been almost constant, Gomez said.
Although law enforcement agencies have "great difficulty," in stopping vehicle attacks, authorities have much more ability to intervene if they have "intelligence that indicates that something like this may happen," said Ray Kelly, former NYPD police commissioner and ABC News consultant.
"So, we know the threat exists," Gomez said. "Any kind of venue, where there are crowds, we have to recognize that the vehicular attack is the preferred method based on ISIS' instructions to its followers worldwide, because it's hard to detect."
It's up to law enforcement to take proactive measures to stop the threat, Gomez said.
NYPD Shield and the FBI's Operation Tripwire are two programs that do this by establishing and maintaining contact with private businesses, such as rental car companies. Authorities instruct the companies to be aware of suspicious behavior or red flags that someone may exhibit when renting a vehicle, Gomez said.
"That kind of proactive measure has to be in place ... something that's constantly nurtured," he said.
'If you see something, say something...'
Might be an issue after years of the Obama regime and political correctness. Remember the San Bernadine shooting in 2015? People saw someone but didn't want to say something.
Syed Farook’s Neighbors Didn’t Report ‘Suspicious Activity’ For Fear of Profiling
Several of Syed Farook‘s neighbors told ABC News they noticed “suspicious activity” at the home of the San Bernardino shooter, as well as his mother’s home at another location. No reports were made, however, for fear of being accused of racial profiling...
Oh, joy. Again, we're also having issues with the feds not sharing information state and local officials. See the Boston Bombing.
Know where the crowds are
From a security preparedness standpoint, it's up to law enforcement and private security officials to recognize where the crowds are, Gomez said.
"The crowds are the target," he said. "The attacker is looking to kill as many people as possible."
Then, it's up to authorities to strategically place security barriers -- such as bollards -- based on where the crowds will be, whether on a daily basis or for a specific event, "to ensure that those crowds will not be able to be accessed or targeted by the vehicle," Gomez said...
I could make a sarcastic remake about licensing auto drivers, but seeing I issue tickets regularly for people without licenses, and you can get auto insurance on your car with a license (at least in Texas), I won't go there. In the aftermath of the Vegas shooting, I was speaking with a friend who said venues like that may need to hire police snipers for protection. Looks like we're gonna need someone to over us with barriers also.
Strange new world...
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