After federal officials warned U.S. law enforcement authorities last week of Islamic State-inspired attacks that might be carried against them by "lone wolves," a new bulletin report is now highlighting "media figures" and reporters as "desirable targets" for retribution attacks against the United States, Politico reported.
On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent reporters a new bulletin stating the possible dangers they can face from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, an al-Qaeda offshoot which has grabbed large areas of Syria and neighboring Iraq, further citing recent beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
"The FBI assesses, based on open source statements and postings, that [ISIL] members and supporters view members of the US media establishment as legitimate targets for retribution attacks as the U.S.-led air campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria continues," the FBI bulletin states. "Online supporters of ISIL have called - via various social media sites - for retaliation against the United States and US interests abroad, especially since U.S.-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria began."
Provided to news organizations so that they "may take appropriate steps to notify their journalists in the field," the document was sent out Thursday by the Public Affairs department for the FBI's Washington Field Office.
The FBI also claims to have "recently obtained credible information indicating members of an ISIL-affiliated group are tasked with kidnapping journalists in the region and returning them to Syria. Members of this group might try to mask their affiliation with ISIL to gain access to journalists."
In the bulletin, an online post by an ISIL supporter titled, "A Message to 2.6 Million Muslims in the United States: This Is How To Respond to Obama's War on Islam," urges followers to prioritize personnel such as anchormen, field reporters and talk show hosts since they have been "proven to be biased."
In one instance, ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani's English-translated message was posted on a jihadi forum in late September, asking attackers to refrain from taking anyone's advice before striking because such actions are legitimate, according to NBC News.
Another document posted by an ISIS supporter in September reportedly advocated "open source jihad" and "lone wolf operations" by U.S. Muslims against "a list of potential targets, including military, law enforcement, FBI personnel, government officials and media figures."
Meanwhile, even though the credibility of the threat by homegrown extremists was not confirmed, taking "additional precautions" when conducting interviews would prove helpful for law enforcement and FBI personnel, the bulletin advised.
