- The FBI director has issued a stark warning about the increased possibility of a coordinated terrorist attack in the US
- Christopher Wray told NBC that such an attack “might not be that different from what you saw against the concert hall in Russia”
- The FBI had four thousand international terrorism investigations underway at the end of 2023
FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned of the increased possibility of a coordinated terrorist attack in the US.
Wray told NBC News the FBI is ‘increasingly concerned [about] the potential for some kind of coordinated attack here at home.”
Explaining that such an event “may not be that different from what you saw from ISIS-K against the concert hall in Russia a few weeks ago.”
The attack on a Moscow concert hall on March 22 killed at least 144 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in two decades.
Wray has previously expressed concern about the increased terror threat, telling a House of Representatives panel earlier this month that the current terror threat is the highest he can remember in his career.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has issued a stark warning about the increased possibility of a coordinated terrorist attack in the US
Wray told NBC that such an attack “might not be that different from what you saw against the concert hall in Russia”
The attack on a Moscow concert hall on March 22 killed at least 144 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in two decades.
“As I look back on my career in law enforcement, I would be hard-pressed to think of a time when so many threats to our public safety and national security were so great at once,” he told the panel.
According to Wray’s testimony, the FBI had opened 4,000 international terrorism investigations by the end of fiscal year 2023.
Wray told NBC that the terror threat to the US has increased following Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on October 7.
“We thought that even before October 7,” he explained, “the terrorism threat had already increased.
“After October 7, it went to a completely different level.”
Speaking about the increasingly hostile international environment and the potential spread of terror, Wray added: ‘Whether it’s the threat from China, Russia, Iran, [there are] terrorism threats, both foreign terrorism threats and domestic terrorist threats.’
Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, is campaigning in Congress to get more funding for his agency.
The FBI’s 2024 budget fell $500 million short of what was needed to maintain current functions, Reuters reported.
According to Wray’s testimony, the FBI had opened 4,000 international terrorism investigations by the end of fiscal year 2023
Wray and the FBI have been the target of former President Trump’s ire, arguing that they unfairly targeted him in investigations.
Trump recently called on Congress to cut the agency’s funding, calling the FBI and Justice Department “vicious monsters.”
The increasingly intense attacks on the agency have led to an increase in the number of attacks on employees and buildings, according to Reuters.
“We have seen a substantial jump in threats against FBI personnel and facilities from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023,” Wray told Congress.
Adding: ‘In fact, we have set up a special unit to tackle these issues.’
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the March attack on Crocus City Hall.
IS has released shocking images of the terrorists shooting indiscriminately into the 6,000 crowd in the concert hall.
Four suspects were arrested hours after the attack and appeared to have been beaten before appearing in Russian court.
Footage of brutal interrogation sessions by Russian security forces emerged online with reports of at least one of the suspects receiving electric shocks, the BBC reported.
President Vladimir Putin said: “we know that the crime was committed at the hands of radical Islamists, followers of an ideology that the Islamic world itself has been fighting against for centuries.”