FBI director issues chilling warning about possible terror attack on U.S. soil similar to Russian concert hall massacre which left 144 people dead: 'We are increasingly concerned'
- The FBI director has issued a stark warning about the heightened possibility of a coordinated terror attack in the US
- Christopher Wray told NBC such an attack 'may be not that different from what you saw against the concert hall in Russia'
- The FBI had 4,000 international terrorism investigations open at the end of the 2023 fiscal year
FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned of the heightened possibility of a coordinated terror attack in the US.
Wray told NBC News the FBI is 'increasingly concerned [about] the potential for some kind of coordinated attack here in the homeland.'
Explaining that such an event 'may be not that different from what you saw against the concert hall in Russia a few weeks ago from ISIS-K.'
The attack on a Moscow concert hall on March 22 killed at least 144 people, making it the deadliest terror attack in Russia for 20 years.
Wray has previously raised concerns over the elevated terror threat, telling a House of Representatives panel earlier this month that the current terror threat is the highest he can remember in his career.
FBI director Christopher Wray has issued a stark warning about the heightened possibility of a coordinated terror attack in the US
Wray told NBC such an attack 'may be not that different from what you saw against the concert hall in Russia'
The attack on a Moscow concert hall on March 22 killed at least 144 people, making it the deadliest terror attack in Russia for 20 years
'As I look back over my career in law enforcement, I would be hard-pressed to think of a time where so many threats to our public safety and national security were so elevated all at once,' he told the panel.
The FBI had 4,000 international terrorism investigations open at the end of the 2023 fiscal year, according to Wray's testimony.
Wray told NBC the terror threat for the US has increased following Hamas' deadly attack on Israel on October 7.
'We thought that even before October 7' he explained 'that the terrorism threat was already elevated.
'Post-October 7 it has gone to a whole other level.'
Speaking about the increasingly hostile international environment and the potential spill over of terror Wray added: 'Whether it's the threat from China, Russia, Iran, [there are] terrorism threats both foreign terrorism threats and domestic terrorist threats.'
Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, has been campaigning in Congress to receive more funding for his agency.
The FBI's fiscal 2024 budget fell $500 million short of what was needed to maintain its current functions, Reuters reported.
The FBI had 4,000 international terrorism investigations open at the end of the 2023 fiscal year, according to Wray's testimony
Wray and the FBI have been a target for former president Trump's ire, arguing that they have unfairly targeted him in investigations.
Trump recently called on Congress to slash the agency's funding, while calling the FBI and the Justice Department as 'vicious monsters.'
The increasingly heated attacks on the bureau have led to a rise in attacks on its employees and buildings, according to Reuters.
'We have seen a substantial jump in threats towards FBI personnel and facilities from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023,' Wray told Congress.
Adding: 'In fact, we created a dedicated unit to try to deal with those issues.'
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the March attack on Crocus City Hall.
IS released shocking footage of the terrorists firing indiscriminately into the crowd of 6,000 inside the concert hall.
Four suspects were arrested hours after the attack and appeared to have been beaten before appearing before a Russian court.
Footage of brutal interrogation sessions by the Russian security forces appeared online with reports that at least one of the suspects suffered electric shocks, the BBC reported.
President Vladimir Putin said 'we know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, followers of an ideology that the Islamic world itself has been fighting against for centuries'.
