Sam Fletcher
OGJ Online
HOUSTON, Sept. 11 -- Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in Houston fielded terrorist information and some threats Tuesday, which they shared with area refiners, offshore operators, energy companies, and other potential local targets of terrorism.
"The FBI is not telling anyone to shut down their operations," said Richard M. Mosquera, special agent in charge of the Houston office. "We just pass the information on to them and they can make their own decisions."
Some companies made independent decisions to close their Houston offices without any conversations with the FBI, he said.
Mosquera said some threats against Houston area companies and buildings were received among the "hundreds" of telephone calls and information from other sources fielded by the FBI and local law enforcement agencies. However, he said he did not know how many threats were made and did not elaborate on the nature or the targets of those threats at an afternoon press conference at the local FBI headquarters.
No other law enforcement agencies were represented at that press conference, although Houston police officers were on guard both inside and outside the building.
Mosquera said FBI agents were coordinating information they received with other law enforcement and emergency response agencies at various control centers around the city.
FBI agents also have "increased scrutiny" of local residents with known or suspected ties to terrorist organizations. "It's no secret that we have some in the community, but we don't just stop there. We're talking to anyone who might have any information whatsoever," said Mosquera.
However, he emphasized that the FBI is not concentrating its attention on any one ethnic group. "There are a lot of groups out there that have issues," he said.
Mosquera also appealed to citizens to "be aware of anything suspicious."
He said, "I don't want to give the impression that this (potential local terrorist activity) is lurking around the corner. But people need to be aware of their surroundings."
Mosquera noted that all of the commercial aircraft hijacked for terrorist attacks Tuesday were large planes scheduled for coast-to-coast flights. "I assume that the large supply of fuel on those aircraft were a factor" in their use as attack weapons, he said.
As for whether the terrorists who crashed two airplanes into the World Trade Center might have gotten the idea from the WW II-era US bomber that accidentally crashed into the Empire State Building during a fog in the late 1940s, Mosquera said, "I don't think anyone could have anticipated an attack like that."
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