NYPD on High Alert After ISIS Leader Tells Followers to Kill Americans; 'Smash His Head With a Rock or Slaughter Him With a Knife'
The New York City Police Department has reportedly been placed on alert after an ISIS message surfaced calling on its followers to kill police officers, soldiers and civilians in the United States by any means necessary.
"Pay close attention to people as they approach and look for their hands as they approach you," an internal NYPD memo read, according to the New York Daily News on Sunday.
The threat was apparently made by ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammad Al-Adnani, and mirrors a previous jihadist call for action in September 2014. The memo warns that the latest threat should be taken even more seriously, in light of the terror attacks in France last week that killed 17 people.
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"Do not let the battle pass you by wherever you may be," Al-Adnani says in a video. "Strike their police, security and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents."
The message gets exceedingly violent, and calls on ISIS followers who do not have an explosive device or gun ready to "smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car."
ISIS has also threatened France, Australia and Canada, CNN noted. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have also warned law enforcement officers across the country to stay vigilant in light of the threats.
The terror group has captured a number of cities across Iraq and Syria in its mission go establish Islamic rule over the region, and has beheaded a number of western citizens on video. The U.S. and a broad coalition of allies has responded by carrying out ongoing airstrikes on terror targets in the region, and aiding local forces who are fighting back against the militants.
CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said that ISIS may be trying to use the terror attacks in Paris to create an atmosphere of fear in a number of western countries.
"ISIS appears to be renewing or recycling previous threats made in an audio tape released by ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al Adnani in September which called for attacks by supporters on France and other Western countries in retaliation for air strikes in Syria and Iraq," Cruickshank offered.
"They are hoping that the attacks in Paris by a group which included a self-professed ISIS follower will inspire other attacks in the West."
Over a million people in Paris on Sunday and leaders from more than 40 nations joined together in unity to condemn the terror attacks, and were protected by over 2,200 soldiers and policemen patrolling the streets.
