Fox reporting: Bay, Golden Gate, Coronado and one other. Supposed to be at rush hour next few days. No other info.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2001

Answers

FOX

Gov. Davis Reveals Threat to Bridges

LOS ANGELES — There is "credible evidence" that terrorists are plotting a rush-hour attack on four California bridges in the next week, Gov. Gray Davis warned Thursday.

Law enforcement officials learned the attacks are planned for between Friday and Nov. 9 on the Golden Gate Bridge or Bay Bridge, both in San Francisco, the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles, or the San Diego Coronado Bridge, Davis said.

"The best preparation is to let terrorists know, we know what you're up to, we're ready for you." Davis said.

Personnel from several agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the California Highway Patrol, are part of heightened security around the bridges.

Davis said the information came from several law enforcement agencies including the FBI.

Although hundreds of bomb threats have been called in to authorities about sites in California, this is only the second threat judged to be credible since the Sept. 11 attacks, Davis said. The first targeted Los Angeles movie studios.

Officials in Washington said the intelligence on the bridges was derived since the general alert issued to Americans on Monday, and the FBI had not yet corroborated it but decided to issue the new warning.

"The FBI is in possession of uncorroborated information indicating the possibility of additional terrorist attacks against the United States, specifically the West Coast," the FBI said in a statement.

"Reportedly, unspecified groups are targeting suspension bridges on the West Coast. Six incidents are to take place during rush hour beginning Friday, Nov. 2 and continuing through Nov. 7, 2001.

"No further information about this alleged attack is known at this time," the bureau said.

Justice Department spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said the information that prompted Thursday's warning was "at a lower level" than the information that led to the FBI's alert Monday.

"We are working to verify the validity" of the information, Tucker said.

In a telephone conference shortly after the disclosure by Davis, Commissioner Spike Helmick of the CHP said the threat came late Wednesday through the FBI from "individuals and sources who in the past have brought good information to us."

But he stressed that the public shouldn't be fearful.

"Those bridges are safe. We encourage people to use them. In fact, I'll be driving over them tomorrow on several occasions," Helmick said.

"I can't guarantee" that nothing will happen, Helmick said. "I couldn't do that before Sept. 11."

Davis had said terrorists planned to "blow up" one of the bridges, but Helmick said the threat was not that specific.

Officials with the agencies that oversee the bridges said the threats were being taken seriously.

"The state is taking the lead role and we are cooperating with all the police agencies involved at this time to secure and make sure the bridge is safe," said Sheila Gonzales, spokeswoman for the Port of Los Angeles.

The combined ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the busiest port complex in the nation.

Nancy Carothers, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, said she had not heard about the governor's disclosure of the threats until reporters started calling her.

"We're still gathering information," she said.

Jeff Weiss, spokesman for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, also learned about Davis' announcement from the media.

"Security was stepped up on the bridge after the Sept. 11 attacks and we feel the bridge is secure for travel," he said.

Heightened security measures include an increased presence by officers with the CHP and Caltrans, and U.S. Coast Guard boats patrolling the bridge, piers, catwalks and the water beneath the bridge.

"We feel we're well-prepared for any nefarious and criminal actions," Weiss said. "This is especially for the Bay Bridge. We're routinely inspecting the IDs of workers and Caltrans personnel on the bridge to assure that everyone who is on the bridge belongs on the bridge."

In San Diego, commuter Lisa Murphy, who drives across the Coronado bridge each day on her way to work at the Coronado Chamber of Commerce, said she has worried about its security since Sept. 11.

"Yeah, it's crossed my mind every time I'm on it," she said.

In light of Davis' warning, Murphy said she'd likely divert her drive to the land route along Silver Strand State Beach.

San Diego CHP Officer Mark Gregg said the patrol has been working with the Navy, Coast Guard and local police to protect the bridge since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

"We take any potential threat very seriously and we adjust our methods of patrol and security accordingly, but we already had been on a strong sense of alert since Sept. 11th," Gregg said.

Gregg said he could not specifically discuss what security measures were being taken to guard the bridge, which has a vertical clearance of about 200 feet at midspan.

At the news conference, Davis also named a former FBI agent as his special adviser on state security issues.

Davis announced his appointment of George Vinson, a 23-year veteran of the FBI to the newly created post.

Vinson, 57, of Gold River previously served as assistant special agent in charge of the San Francisco office where he developed the Bay Area Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The state security officer will advise Davis on the latest anti-terrorism strategies and act as a liaison to the federal Office of Homeland Security, governor's spokesman Steve Maviglio said.

He also said the state security adviser will be paid out of the governor's office portion of the existing state budget. A salary was not immediately set.

"This will make our job easier. It will make us more efficient," said Maj. Gen. Paul Monroe, adjutant general of the California National Guard.

-- Anonymous, November 01, 2001

MSNBC Authorities counter Davis' statements

NBC4.TV

SAN PEDRO, Nov. 1 - What threat to suspension bridges?

Some local law enforcement officials said today they were as surprised as anyone when Gov. Gray Davis announced that big suspension bridges in California, including the Vincent Thomas at the Port of Los Angeles, could be targeted by terrorists between tomorrow and Nov. 7.

The FBI reportedly said the threat was uncorroborated, and the Justice Depratment -- according to NBC News -- does not consider the threat credible.

A lieutenant at the Los Angeles Police Department's Harbor Division, which includes the bridge that links the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, said the governor's comments "were news to me."

Local CHP officials referred callers to CHP headquarters in Sacramento.

But Los Angeles police Officer Jason Lee said the Vincent Thomas span had been on the department's "highest alert" list since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in New York City.

"But we understand what Governor Gray Davis said, and we are paying extra att`ntion to the area on or near the bridge."

Would he recommend that motorists use the bridge?

"It's up to them, but we're not going to close it. We're not going to shut it down, but we are paying special attention to the bridge now," Lee said

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2001

What I'm hearing on the news this morning is that EIGHT western states have received warnings about threats to west coast bridges. That sounds like more than California to me.

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2001

Yup, just that Davis went public with it first!

-- Anonymous, November 02, 2001