terrorism | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published June 24, 2011 at 8:38AM

School’s Out for Summer — Today is the last day of school for elementary students in Arlington. High school students had their last day on Wednesday and middle school students had their last day on Thursday. [YouTube]

Man Charged With Pentagon Shootings — Alexandria resident Yonathan Melaku, 22, has been charged with destruction of property and firearm violations in five separate shootings at Northern Virginia military installations last year. Melaku was arrested in Arlington National Cemetery last Friday, authorities say, with a backpack containing a ammonium nitrate, a key component in certain explosives, and a notebook containing referencing Al Qaeda and jihad. Sources tell Fox News that Melaku was “self-radicalized through the internet,” but there’s “no indication he was planning to harm individuals.” [FBI, Fox News]

News

Pentagon Police Vigilant Day and Night

By ARLnow.com

Published May 2, 2011 at 4:03PM

The Pentagon Force Protection Agency protects DoD workers at the Pentagon and at other leased and owned installations in the Washington area. An article published today by the American Forces Press Service details the work of the PFPA officers who work the night shift at the Pentagon.

The article discusses how officers monitor the various sensors and cameras around the 280-acre Pentagon reservation. Among the sensors present inside and outside the complex are sensors that monitor for potential chemical, biological and radiological threat.

News

VSP Urges Vigilance in Wake of bin Laden’s Death

By ARLnow.com

Published May 2, 2011 at 12:28PM

Virginia State Police have issued a statement regarding the death of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden at the hands of U.S. forces.

VSP is urging Virginia residents to “remain vigilant in their awareness to suspicious activity within their communities and workplaces.” Specifically, the agency is asking Virginians to be on the lookout for terrorist fundraising, surveillance and “dry runs.”

News

Quiet Remembrance at Pentagon Memorial

By ARLnow.com

Published May 2, 2011 at 3:45AM

A visitor to the Pentagon Memorial

In contrast to the noisy, jubilant celebration at the White House, the scene at the Pentagon Memorial last night was one of quiet remembrance.

About two dozen visitors trickled in to the memorial following the announcement that Osama bin Laden had been killed by American forces in Pakistan. As visitors strolled the dimly-lit grounds, only the peaceful sound of bubbling water could be heard. The sound came from small pools below each of the memorial’s 184 benches, which represent the 184 people killed during the bin Laden-orchestrated attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

News

Is This the House of a Terrorist?

By ARLnow.com

Published December 15, 2010 at 10:57AM | Updated June 29, 2018 at 2:52PM

This is the house on 11th Street South in the Arlington View neighborhood where alleged “wannabe jihadist” Awais Younis lived with family members.

Younis, also known as Sundullah Ghizai and Mohhanme Khan, was arrested by the FBI last week and charged with threatening — via Facebook — to set off pipe bombs in Georgetown and on Metro trains.

News

Arlington Man Accused of Making Metro Bomb Threats

By ARLnow.com

Published December 14, 2010 at 3:32PM | Updated June 29, 2018 at 2:52PM

The FBI’s terrorism task force has arrested a 25-year-old Arlington man on suspicion of making bomb threats via Facebook.

Awais Younis was taken into custody on Dec. 7. In court documents, he’s accused of threatening to use pipe bombs to blow up a busy section of Georgetown. He’s also accused of threatening to place bombs on Metro trains.

News

Man Arrested in Plot to Bomb Arlington Metro Stations

By ARLnow.com

Published October 27, 2010 at 3:19PM | Updated June 29, 2018 at 3:26PM

Feds say Farooque Ahmed thought he was assisting members of al-Qaeda by providing sketches, photos and videos of the Pentagon City, Courthouse, Arlington Cemetery and Crystal City stations. According to prosecutors, he also observed and detailed security procedures in the stations for his handlers, who he believed to be affiliated with the terror organization.

Ahmed collected the information “with the intent to plan and assist in planning multiple bombings to cause mass casualties at Metrorail stations,” the indictment reads.

News

Emergency Exercise, Metro Closure Planned for Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

Published February 3, 2010 at 1:18PM | Updated March 23, 2010 at 2:03PM

Firefighters will use their recently-acquired Mobile Emergency Response Vehicles (MERVs) to travel through the tunnels. MERVs, which were used during the 2005 bombing of the London Underground, can reduce the time it takes first-responders to reach underground victims from 45 minutes to 4 minutes.

The exercise will take place between 9 AM and noon. The $1.2 million in funding for it came from a federal Homeland Security grant.