The Islamic State (ISIS) has "changed the battlefield" when it comes to the threat of terrorism, GOP Rep. Peter King said Monday, noting that he expects more attacks like that witnessed last week in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that left five military members dead.
"They are reaching out more than al-Qaida itself ever did to get people who are deranged, people on the fringes, people who can be seduced by their Islamist rantings," the New York Republican, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, told MSNBC's
"Morning Joe" program.
"What this means is the FBI, as good a job as it does, just cannot get all the intelligence that's needed to even hope to stop many of these attacks."
Further, King said he believes local police departments need to be brought into investigations even more.
"This can be controversial," he said. "I think this shows why we need more surveillance or better tips, better informers, to try to anticipate these things in advance. Whether or not that would have worked in this case, I don't know."
The Chattanooga attack also shows the need to fortify the nation's military recruiting stations, including installing bulletproof glass and "strongly consider having armed personnel in the locations, whether it's military or police," King told the program.
The only question is, King said, is how that will be done.
"Do you have all of the personnel armed?" he said. "One or two MPs there?"
Military properties are considered to be "legitimate targets" by ISIS, King said, as well as "everyone wearing a uniform," including police officers.
"The military people sitting in a recruiting office in a strip mall are as vulnerable as anybody can be," King said. "I would say again, bulletproof it and have armed personnel in that recruiting station."
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Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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