Rockland Alerts Residents After FBI Director Talks About Attacks

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — The day after FBI Director Christopher Wray went before Congress to support renewal of a controversial section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Rockland County officials have picked up on his statement that he was increasingly concerned about the potential for an attack like the recent one in Russia.

"Our most immediate concern has been that individuals or small groups will draw twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home," Wray told the House Appropriations Committee during a week of fierce infighting among Republicans and lobbying by former President Trump against the law. "But now increasingly concerning is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia concert hall."

Back in March, 144 people were killed and over 500 injured when four armed gunman stormed a concert hall in Moscow and open fired before setting fire to the building. The Islamic State group took responsibility for what is the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades, Rockland officials said.

"As I look back over my career in law enforcement, I would be hard-pressed to think of a time where so many threats to our public safety and national security were so elevated all at once. But that is the case as I sit here today," Wray said to the committee, Axios reported.

Later, the House voted to renew the act, Forbes reported.

Rockland, along with towns and law enforcement, are now on alert, county officials said. They urge residents who see something to say something.