Authorities say to be vigilant over holiday

Staff report

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning against possible terrorist attacks over the holiday, and the head of the Youngstown FBI office says he’s been working with local law enforcement to make sure the Fourth of July weekend goes off without a hitch.

Special Agent Todd Werth, in charge of the local FBI office, said the alert has gone across the country, but no specific act or location has been mentioned.

Werth said people should still enjoy their holiday but keep an eye out.

“Be alert to anything out of the ordinary or suspicious,” he said. “Don’t hesitate to call local law enforcement or the FBI. Law enforcement will take everything seriously.”

Being watchful is the best thing people can do, Werth said.

“That’s kind of our focus,” he said. “Our biggest defense is citizens just being vigilant. Lots of times people will call on something that just doesn’t seem right.”

Werth said federal law-enforcement officials are especially concerned about plots such as one thwarted in Boston last month, where a man was alleged to have been planning an attack on police officers, as well as foreign attacks last week by the Islamic State in Tunisia, Kuwait and France.

A special concern, according to the warning, which was issued Friday, is attacks against law enforcement or the military.

Youngstown police Chief Robin Lees also urged citizens who see something strange to call 911. He said his officers will be following the same advice he gives to residents: Watch out for anything unusual and be aware of your surroundings.

“We’ll be looking for anything suspicious, out of place or abnormal,” Lees said. “People should call 911. If we don’t investigate ourselves we’ll see that it gets to the proper authority.”

Although terrorism is always a great concern, Boardman Police Chief Jack Nichols said the alert doesn’t change anything for his department over the holiday weekend. He said these kinds of nationwide alerts have become relatively common.

“It really doesn’t change our operations much at all,” he said. “Fortunately the schools are closed right now. The high-risk thing for us would be the mall and Fourth of July celebrations.”

Police officers won’t be doing anything different in response to the alert, but he said officers and citizens always should be on the look-out for warning signs.

“You look for things out of place, small little things and you act on it. Call the police. Don’t just ignore things,” he said. He said a warning sign could be something as simple as an unattended package, or someone loading a suspicious-looking package into a car.

In the meantime, Nichols said his department will be dealing with other concerns, such as fireworks, impaired driving and “just the kinds of things that go along with a holiday weekend.”

At the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna, Master Sgt. Bob Barko Jr., superintendent of public affairs, said the base is following U.S. military command guidance received in May to increase force protection measures, and has received no new guidance since that time regarding the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

For operational security reasons, Barko said he cannot go into specific actions being taken at YARS.