New York dismisses chilling Isis video

 

Police officers stand guard in Times Square. Photo / AP

A defiant New York stared down an Isis (Islamic State) propaganda video threatening the city as White House hopeful Hillary Clinton called for a United States-led global fight to defeat the extremists.
Less than a week after attacks claimed by the group killed 129 people in Paris, an Isis video showed a man preparing a suicide vest and fingering its trigger, interlaced with footage of New York's Times and Herald Squares.
Police immediately said that there was "no current or specific threat", and Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton went to Times Square in the middle of the night to reassure residents.
"The people of New York City will not be intimidated," de Blasio told reporters beneath the bright lights of the square, in the heart of New York's entertainment district.
"We understand it is the goal of terrorists to intimidate and disrupt our democratic society. We will not submit to their wishes.

"There is no specific and credible threat against New York City. So it's crucial that people go about their normal business." It was a message reiterated by FBI Director James Comey: "We are not aware of any credible threat here [in the US] of a Paris-type attack. And we have seen no connection at all between the Paris attackers and the United States."
New York has the largest police force in the United States with 35,000 officers. This week also marked the first deployment of 100 extra rapid-reaction counterterrorism officers out of a promised 500.
Bratton said the video was "nothing new".
As America's largest city, entertainment and financial capital, New York is on a near-constant state of alert, particularly since the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks killed more than 2700 at the Twin Towers.
Since then, more than 20 plots have been thwarted, including four in the last two years, said counterterrorism chief John Miller.
The city is preparing to welcome an influx of millions of visitors during the busy holiday season, which traditionally opens with the Thanksgiving Parade next Thursday.
Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate in the 2016 race for the White House, said that New York's resilience in the face of terror led her to unveil in the city her plans for a sweeping war against Isis.
The former New York state senator called for a US-led global fight to defeat the extremist group in the Middle East, shut down its flow of fighters, propaganda and weapons to the West, and to counter radical jihadism.
It would require every pillar of American power - military, diplomacy and economic development - she said, calling on Arab, European and regional allies, including Turkey, to do more.