NY Police Ready to Protect City, Aware of ISIL Propaganda Video

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and NY police are aware of a newly released Islamic State video suggesting America’s most populous city is a potential target of attacks such as those in Paris last week, but both agencies said on Wednesday there were no specific threats.

In what appears to be a threat directed at the United States, the video shows Times Square along with NY City taxis and several mid-town locations with a man preparing an explosive device and strapping it to himself.

The Islamic State video, which runs for almost six minutes, includes a scene that appears to show a suicide bomber making preparations and zipping up a jacket, according to a description provided by SITE Intelligence Group, a Bethesda, Maryland, organization that tracks militant groups.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said earlier on Wednesday that he has no security concerns about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade next week.

In the video, the Islamic State group – also known as ISIS or ISIL – reportedly claimed responsibility for Friday’s grisly terrorist attacks in Paris that resulted in at least 129 deaths. We understand it is the goal of terrorists to intimidate and disrupt our democratic society.

De Blasio praised the NYPD as the most capable police force in the country, “with a robust counterterrorism operation that was just strengthened with an investment of 500 additional officers”.

“It is a mishmash of previously released video”.

The NYPD issued a statement saying: “We are aware of the newly-released ISIL video that mentions Times Square. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism which is threatening the whole world”, he told a packed, sombre chamber.