Rep. Peter King, chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, tells
Newsmax TV that Islamic State [ISIS] terrorists may be plotting to explode a bomb in the New York metropolitan area on the Fourth of July.
Making the threat even more real is the fact that a supply of explosives were discovered in the lair of one ISIS operative in the region earlier this month, according to King.
"I've been aware of this now for about the last two or three weeks … the real possibility of something being attempted on the Fourth of July," King, a New York Republican, said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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"There's a number of things — intelligence that's been picked up … and the last week to 10 days, there's been five ISIS operatives arrested in New York City. That's not coincidental.
"It's one thing you say someone's a lone wolf. You don't find five lone wolves operating together at the same time."
Asked what methods terrorists might use in an assault, King told Malzberg, "I would be more concerned with a bomb. An improvised explosive device. One of the places that was raided last week, they did find explosives … There's been other ISIS operatives arrested with explosives in their homes or apartments."
King pointed to the growing numbers of surprise attacks by ISIS around the world.
"You saw the attacks last Friday in Lyon and Tunisia and Kuwait. Three attacks within a matter of hours … [were] involving ISIS operatives," he said referring the slaying of 38 tourists on a Tunisia beach, a beheading and attempt to blow up a U.S.-owned gas factory in Lyon, France, and the slaying of 25 at a Kuwait mosque.
"ISIS is playing an active role here in the United States and when you just combine the intelligence that's been picked up — I can't go into how we got it — and then you find the five people in New York …"
King said the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force is "very involved" in hunting for more ISIS operatives.
"This is real and by the way this comes barely two years after President [Barack] Obama announced that al-Qaida was on the ropes," he said.
While there is an emphasis on New York as a potential target, the threat is nationwide, he said.
"My understanding is the FBI is going to be opening up different bases around the country over the next several days. It's countrywide," he said.
"It's more specific toward New York in that we have a significant number [of arrests], but there was an ISIS operative arrested in Columbus, Ohio, just about three or four weeks ago.
"[James] Comey, the FBI director, has said that there's active investigations of Islamist terrorism going on in all 50 states. This could happen almost anywhere. New York is always the number one target."
King said ISIS, al-Qaida and other terrorist alliances are "capable of killing thousands of people."
"There was an attempted explosives attack in the New York subways a few years ago. If that had succeeded, you would've had hundreds maybe thousands of people killed, especially in the hundreds," he said.
"There are so many targets … when you're living in a free society which is why intelligence is so important. Stop it before they get there."
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