Al-Shabaab Video Threat Means Heightened Security at Mall of America

Reuters and other news outlets carry the news that the Minnesota's gigantic Mall of America is under heightened security after a video threat posted online by terrorist group Al-Shabaab. Also at CNN and CBS News. According to Reuters' version of the story: The U.S. homeland security chief said on Sunday he takes seriously a threat made by Somali-based Islamist militants against shopping malls, including the Mall of America in Minnesota, and urged people going there to be careful. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson was reacting to a video released by al Shabaab appearing to call for attacks on Western shopping areas, specifically mentioning Mall of America, the West Edmonton Mall in Canada and London's Oxford Street. ... Mall officials issued a statement about the threat made by the group, saying they are monitoring events with the help of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. "Mall of America has implemented extra security precautions, some may be noticeable to guests, and others won’t be," the officials said.

Comments

Can this be fixed with technology?

[DoofusOfDeath]

I've seen a joke, maybe on a t-shirt, along the lines of "Every day a vegan skips meat, I'll eat three extra burgers." It's interesting because it exposes the question of whether the vegan is really trying to minimize animal deaths, or just seeks personal sanctity.

I wonder if a similar thing could be made with a Koran-burning machine. The machine is configured so that every time the internet has a new message from Islamicists, the machine automatically dips a Koran in pig blood, burns it, posts the video on YouTube, and sends a Tweet giving credit to the Islamicists who triggered that action.

Re:visibility doesnt matter.

[khasim]

The problem is that our own government seems to WANT us to be terrified of the "terrorists".

Which is why spokespeople for our government are making sure that as many of our people are aware of the "threats" as possible.

The government should be posting videos of its own MOCKING them. And re-editing their videos.

And taking down the worst ones WITHOUT TELLING EVERYONE THAT YOU ARE TAKING THEM DOWN BECAUSE THEY ARE SO BAD AND HERE IS WHY THEY ARE SO BAD.

Re:It looks like

[MightyMartian]

Oh come on. Even during the Blitz, Britons made jokes about the Germans. Humor is how people cope with stressful situations, and it is a hell of a lot better a way to deal with terrorist threats than running around screaming your fool head off, or worse, in some ways, become a hyper-serious worry wort believing at any moment you're going to die in some terrorist bomber's explosion.