Lawmakers probe DHS, FBI over Quantico ‘possible terrorist attack’ involving 2 Jordanian nationals and a box truck
A dozen Republican House lawmakers are demanding information from the government about the two Middle Eastern men who tried to break into the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, using a box truck, The Post can reveal.
The lawmakers have asked both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FBI to disclose information about the possible terror plot.
One of the two Jordanian nationals involved had crossed the southern border illegally in San Diego, California, in April.
Authorities found “no initial derogatory information” while screening him so let him go into the US with a future court date to pursue asylum, according to Fox News.
The other individual was in the country illegally after overstaying a student visa.
The group of Republican lawmakers, led by Texas Rep. Chip Roy, are asking DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Chris Wray to explain whether or not the two were trying to execute an attack.
Sources initially told Potomac Local News one of the men was on the terror watchlist.
“A brazen attempt to infiltrate a military installation by foreign nationals from a terror-prone region rightly raises concerns as to whether this constituted a possible terrorist attack. Yet, the federal government has not disclosed whether this breach was terror-related,” the lawmakers wrote.
“The American people deserve to know the scope of the threat posed by potential terror suspects, and the
extent to which the open border policies of this administration are facilitating it.”
The box truck drivers said they were Amazon subcontractors making a delivery when they drove up to Quantico on May 3.
Guards determined they had no business being there, Capt. Michael Curtis, a spokesman for the base, previously told The Post.
However, the pair ignored instructions from officers and tried to drive onto the base, where additional vehicle barriers were deployed to stop them.
Former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill told The Post the breach showed signs that could indicate it was a possible “dry run” most likely for “Al Qaeda or ISIS” to “see how far they can get a truck into the base” and how the base would respond to a future terror attack.
“It looks like it was a test run for something else like truck bombs because they tried to get in saying they were delivery drivers then sped up as the barricades popped up.
“The [Jordanians] are lucky they weren’t shot,” he said.
