Dive Brief:
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Malls across America are on alert after a video purported to be from Somalia's al-Qaida-linked rebel group was released over the weekend, threatening violence to malls in the Western world.
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The threat led the Department of Homeland Security to warn shoppers to be vigilant but said there’s no specific credible threat.
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The Mall of America outside Minneapolis, the country's largest mall which already has significant security measures in place, made a show of its anti-terrorist measures and made public assurances that the mall is safe.
Dive Insight:
Malls worldwide have been attacked in recent years, most notably a brutal attack in Kenya last year, and are on high alert. In fact, that event led U.S. law enforcement and security agencies to stage attacks at malls here to beef up preparedness.
Yet, while traffic at malls nationwide is down, security fears are not the reason, at least not so far, officials say.
Bloomington, MN, police chief Jeff Potts said that the weekend threat is being taken seriously, but that officials are prepared. “We’ve dealt with this sort of thing in the past,” he said. “For a lot of really good reasons, we’ve been working with partners in local, state and federal law enforcement for years. We have built our contingency plans.”