McCarthy: al-Qaeda Threats Behind Increased Lollapalooza Security

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 8, 2013 4:00PM

Photo credit: Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist

Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy confirmed earlier this week that last week’s worldwide travel alert issued by the State Department resulted in heightened security at Lollapalooza. The alert by the State Department cited an unspecified threat by al Qaeda and affiliates and warned Americans traveling abroad may be at risk through the end of August. Dozens of embassies and consulates around the world were closed as a result.

McCarthy said CPD received a briefing July 31 on the travel warning. The department placed more undercover officers in the crowd, paid special attention on vehicles pulled over on Lake Shore Drive, used bomb-sniffing dogs and ramped up searches of bags in the crowds at the festival.

This is all news to us. Sunday was the only day where we underwent a thorough bag search, as we noted in our Sunday recap of the festival. And we sure as hell didn’t see any bomb-sniffing dogs.

McCarthy said that crimes and arrests related to the festival held steady, while there were at least 80 ambulance responses per day over the weekend, which he attributed to “probably people who drank too much.”