Once again, reports of a terrorist threat….once again, a government response….this time in Baltimore:
BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) — A security threat prompted authorities to close one of two tunnels carrying traffic under Baltimore’s harbor Tuesday and partially shut down the other, officials said.
The Baltimore Harbor Tunnel was closed while the Fort McHenry Tunnel was partially closed, with one lane of traffic moving in each direction, said Lt. Col. David Franklin of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. The closures began about 11:30 a.m.
“We received some information a couple of days ago with a possible threat to a tunnel, nothing specific,” said Carla McIntosh, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Baltimore……
“Our No. 1 priority is the safety of the citizens of Maryland and those who travel on our roadways,” Transportation Authority Police Chief Gary McLhinney said. He said traffic stops were being conducted but declined to say what they were looking for. He did say nothing had been found as of early afternoon.
It’s a concern, due to the linkage with I-95. ABC News:
An informant told authorities late last week that a plot was in progress to blow up one of the tunnels under Baltimore’s harbor, ABC News has learned.
According to the informant, six Egyptian terrorists were going to receive bomb materials that would arrive by ship at Baltimore’s harbor in a container marked “Cocoa.” The informant said the terrorists would then use the material to assemble explosive devices, which would be planted in cars as part of a plot to bomb one or both of the tunnels.
ABC-affiliate WJLA-TV in Washington is reporting that several individuals are in custody and are being interviewed by the Maryland/Delaware Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The Department of Homeland Security, however, has some doubts about the source’s credibility. The FBI, meanwhile, is trying to locate several individuals mentioned by the informant.
So what is going on here? We don’t know, perhaps you can figure it out. Local officials (again) announce a threat. A Homeland Security official (again) pooh-poohs it. It sounds like New York all over again. The Baltimore Sun:
Authorities released few details. “I cannot speak specifically about the threat at this time,” said Gary McLhinney, chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority police. But McLhinney defended closing the tunnels.
“The number one priority is the safety of the citizens of Maryland who are traveling on our roadways. We will always err on the side of public safety. … We have not found anything that causes us great concern at this point.”….
The area most immediately affected is I-95 near the tunnels and Key Highway, which is also near the Maryland Port. Police were seen stopping trucks and vans and searching with dogs.
Once again, local and state government officials are caught in a bind. If they don’t act on what, in their judgment, is a credible threat and there is a catastrophe, the public will rightly demand their political and administrative scalps. If nothing happens, then people think it’s a false alarm. CNN reports parts of the tunnel are being opened now.
UPDATE from the Washington Post: Baltimore Tunnel Reopens After Security Threat
UPDATE II: Two more Baltimore tunnels closed as security precaution.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.