Paramilitary Police State & Private Prisons

DC Subway System to Start Random Bag Searches

December 16, 2010

Agence France-Presse - Riders on the Washington metro system were warned Thursday to expect random checks of carry-on items two days after the government disclosed the arrest of an Afghan man for allegedly threatening to bomb the system.

The stepped-up security measures at the height of the Christmas shopping season also coincided with a warning by Interpol that it had received information about possible Al-Qaeda attacks in the United States and Europe.

Metro Transit Police "will conduct random inspections of carry-on items, as part of the continuously changing law enforcement programs designed to keep the system safe," the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said in a statement.

Police will use bomb-sniffing dogs and sensors that rely on ionization technology to check the bags for hazardous materials, it said.

The inspections would take only minutes and were designed to be "non-intrusive," it said.

"Carry on items will generally not be opened and physically inspected unless the equipment indicates a need for further inspection," it said.

People can refuse the inspections, but they will be prohibited from bringing their bags into stations, the agency said.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department disclosed that it arrested Awais Younis, an Afghan man, after he described on Facebook how to build a pipe bomb that could maximize casualties on the Washington Metrorail. During a chat last month Younis said the third and fifth cars on the Metro had the highest number of commuters on them and that he could place bombs there without being noticed, according to the affidavit.

"Complainant responded by saying 'You wouldn't do that,' and (Younis) responded by saying 'Watch me,'" the affidavit says, without providing further details on who turned Younis in.

He had also recently posted a message saying: "Christmas trees were going to go boom."

Washington Subway Police to Begin Random Bag Checks

December 16, 2010

Reuters - Officers will start random bag inspections on the sprawling Washington subway system, the Washington Metro Transit Police said on Thursday, a week after a man was arrested for making bomb threats to the rail system.

Metrorail police officers plan to randomly select bags before passengers enter subway stations and they will swab them or have an explosives-sniffing dog check the bags, according to the Metro police.

There is "no specific or credible threat to the system at this time," Metro said in a statement. Passengers who refuse to have their bags inspected will be denied entry into the subway system.

"The program will increase visible methods of protecting our passengers and employees, while minimizing inconvenience to riders," Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn said in a statement announcing the new checks.

The decision to launch the new security checks, similar to programs in New York and Boston, comes after two people were arrested in recent months, accused separately of threatening to explode bombs in the Washington subway system.

The Washington Metro system consists of five separate rail lines with 86 stations that stretch from Maryland through the capital city and into Virginia. Passengers have made some 217 million trips through the system so far this year, Metro said.

A Virginia man was arrested last week for allegedly making threats to use explosives in the Washington area including the subway.

Two months earlier, another Virginia man was arrested in a sting operation, accused of trying to help who he thought were al Qaeda militants bomb Metrorail stations.

U.S. security officials have been increasingly worried about terrorism plots being launched in the United States, particularly by individuals who have no direct affiliation with militant groups but sympathize with their causes and have adopted their ideologies.