Chicago Trains Were al-Qaida Strike Interest
By Prescott Carlson in News on May 6, 2011 3:00PM
A U.S. official is stating that information that was gathered in the raid of the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was shot and killed indicates that train systems in several U.S. cities were planned targets for al-Qaida attacks, including Chicago.
A new rail security notice states that in February 2010 al-Qaida members were plotting ways to derail trains in locations such as Chicago, Washington, New York and Los Angeles, according to a report by CNN.
Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler confirmed the notice, but said, "We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the U.S. rail sector, but wanted to make our partners aware of the alleged plotting; it is unclear if any further planning has been conducted since February of last year."
While the report seems to indicate al-Qaida action never moved beyond the planning stages, it does have Metra officials rethinking a 2007 incident when 12 spikes were removed from a section of the Metra Electric District tracks on a Bishop Ford Freeway overpass. If a train had gone over that area of track before the missing spikes were discovered, it would have "derailed at speed, during a rush hour, and plunged onto the Bishop Ford."
Metra spokesperson Judy Pardonnet was quoted saying that while the FBI investigated a connection to the "sabotage" and a domestic violence issue, Pardonnet doesn't remember if the case reached a conclusion and called for a resolution to the matter, adding, "Now we can bring it to the attention of law enforcement for review, and find out, in fact, if there was a final finding in that investigation."