Federal, local officials take extra precautions in New York, D.C. Federal and local officials were on high security alert on the eve of the commemorations of the 10th year anniversary of 9/11, deploying extra police and bomb-sniffing dogs, checking trucks for bombs and sending citizens through metal detectors in the wake of a “credible, specific” terrorist threat to New York City or the District.
Law enforcement agencies searched early Saturday for three men of Arab descent — two of them suspected to be U.S. citizens — who were believed to be under orders to explode a car bomb or cause some other deadly damage. But federal investigators said later that they had not yet found any evidence al Qaeda operatives had infiltrated the country, though security remained tight.
In Washington, increased numbers of federal and local police guarded landmarks and street corners.
Secret Service agents cleared Pennsylvania Ave. NW in front of the White House Saturday afternoon, pushing tourists back to the sidewalk in front of Lafayette Square. But visitors weren’t worried.
“It doesn’t seem a smart plan to attack a country 10 years from the first time you attacked them. I got to give them more credit than that,” 26-year-old Cori Lyn, who was visiting from Austin, Texas, said.
D.C. Chief of Police Cathy Lanier deployed all 3,800 metropolitan police officers on 12-hour shifts and urged citizens to report any abandoned packages or lingering vehicles. Lanier said tips from the public were up about 60 percent Saturday; officers investigated them all but found nothing.
On Metro, more police officers and bomb-sniffing dogs patrolled the trains and stations for the anniversary weekend, and baseball fans went through extra security checkpoints at the Nationals games.
In New York City, officials deployed a throng of police officers to major landmarks and transportation hubs across the city. In Times Square on Saturday morning, traffic came to a halt as officers inspected every truck that passed through the lively core of the Big Apple.
“This is New York; you sign up for this when you settle down here,” said lower Manhattan resident Steve Turner. “You won’t see me crying about any inconvenience.”
Police officers were also out in full force at Ground Zero, where they removed trash cans and towed illegally parked cars nearby.
Focusing intently on the threat of a car bomb, police also searched large trucks that crossed the George Washington and Verrazano bridges, as well as the Queens Midtown and Holland tunnels.
In Shanksville, Pa., police lined the route to the 9/11 memorial Saturday as citizens poured into the area to remember the passengers of Flight 93. Visitors passed through metal detectors and were asked to turn on their electronics to prove the devices weren’t bombs, while police patrolled the crowd with binoculars.
The D.C. suburbs were also on high alert; Prince George’s County launched its new $1.2 million mobile command center, a 45-foot bus with satellite links to security cameras throughout the county.
Brian Hughes, Lisa Gartner, Liz Farmer and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
