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Reuters

The FBI is concerned about the possibility of an organised attack in the United States similar to the one that killed scores of people at a Russian concert hall last month, the bureau’s director told a House of Representatives panel.
“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,” Christopher Wray told lawmakers at a budget hearing on Thursday.
“But that is the case as I sit here today.”
The March 22 attack on a concert hall in a Moscow suburb killed at least 144 people, the deadliest in Russia in 20 years. A branch of Islamic State claimed responsibility, but Russian President Vladimir Putin, without citing evidence, has sought to blame Ukraine.

US officials have been worried about the possibility of an attack carried out by an individual or small group inspired by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
But the FBI is growing concerned about a more coordinated attack following the concert massacre in Russia, Wray said in his testimony before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
Islamic State urges backers to target ‘crusaders’, mainly in US, Europe, Israel
At the end of the 2023 financial year, the FBI had 4,000 international terrorism investigations open, according to written testimony by Wray.
Of increasing concern “is the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, akin to the Isis-K attack we saw at the Russia Concert Hall just a couple weeks ago,” Wray told lawmakers in a shorter version of his written testimony.
Wray cited the law enforcement agency’s concerns about terrorism to help persuade lawmakers to boost funding for the FBI, though he is likely to face strong resistance from congressional Republicans.
The FBI has become a prime target for Republican former president Donald Trump and his allies, with Trump alleging the bureau has unfairly targeted him while going soft on his political enemies.
He has called on Congress to slash the agency’s funding, and he has referred to the Justice Department and its FBI component as “vicious monsters”.
The rising political rhetoric against the FBI has led to an increase in threats against the bureau and its employees. Earlier this month, for instance, a South Carolina man was arrested after he tried to ram his car into its Atlanta office.

“We have seen a substantial jump in threats towards FBI personnel and facilities from financial year 2022 to financial year 2023,” Wray told lawmakers. “In fact, we created a dedicated unit to try to deal with those issues.”
Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, asked lawmakers to help get the bureau’s budget “back on track” after its fiscal 2024 budget fell US$500 million short of what was needed to sustain its efforts.
Wray also pressed lawmakers to renew a US surveillance programme set to expire this month, calling it an indispensable tool against US adversaries. A modest overhaul of that programme was blocked in the House on Wednesday amid concerns from members of both parties that it did not go far enough in curbing the government’s surveillance powers.
‘The crowds were chaotic’: how the gun attack at Moscow concert unfolded
“It’s critical in securing our nation, and we are in crunch time,” Wray told lawmakers.
Trump and his allies have called for the surveillance programme to be shut down, after a different provision of the law – known as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA – was used to intercept communications with one of his 2016 campaign advisers.
“I’ll be honest with you, and this pains me to say this, but I don’t trust you,” Republican congressman Mike Garcia told Wray at the hearing on Thursday.
“I don’t think that this is necessarily a funding problem that we have for your agency as much as a leadership problem.”


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United States

FBI concerned about possible attack in US after Moscow massacre

Russian security services at the scene of the Moscow attack on March 22. Photo: AP

FBI Director Christopher Wray. Photo: AFP

Gunmen during the March 22 attack in Moscow. Photo: UGC / AFP

‘China’s nightmare’: how far can Beijing and Moscow go in the fight against Isis-K and the ‘3 evils’?

Recent terror attacks in Pakistan and Moscow could draw Russia and China closer as they look to refocus regional attention back on the fight against extremism. Photo: EPA-EFE

Islamic State urges supporters to target ‘crusaders’ everywhere, especially in US, Europe and Israel

The burnt-out Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk outside Moscow. Islamic State jihadists claimed responsibility for the attack on the venue last week that killed more than 140 people. Photo: AFP

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Photo: Vladimir Smirnov / Kremlin / dpa 

Deadly Moscow shooting leaves China’s internet divided on need for tighter security measures as country seeks to open up

People gather at a makeshift memorial to the victims of Friday’s attack, outside the Crocus City Hall in Moscow.  Photo: Reuters 

‘It was very chaotic’: Chinese students in Moscow share harrowing accounts of concert hall shooting

Rescuers clear rubble and put out fires at Crocus City Hall outside Moscow, Russia, following a shooting attack on Friday.  Photo: EPA-EFE/Russian Emergencies Ministry

Yiming Chen, a Chinese student in Russia, recounts his experience of being near the location of Friday’s mass shooting outside Moscow. Photo: CGTN

“This was the first time in my life that I heard real gunshots,” said a Chinese pianist who shared this photo from the scene of Friday’s terrorist attack in Moscow. Photo: Weibo/上帝之鹰_5zn

Moscow concert hall attack shakes Russian capital, sows doubts about security

People lay flowers and light candles outside Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, in Russia on Saturday. Photo: AP

A woman reacts in front of a makeshift memorial outside the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Russia’s Moscow region on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Firefighters work in the burned concert hall on Saturday after an attack on the building on the western edge of Moscow. Photo: Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP

People gather at a makeshift memorial on Saturday outside the Crocus City Hall concert venue. Photo: Reuters

News

World

United States & Canada

Russia & Central Asia

FBI director warns of potential for a coordinated attack in US akin to one carried by Isis-K in Russia
March 22 attack in Moscow killed at least 144 people, the deadliest in Russia in 20 years


March 22 attack in Moscow killed at least 144 people, the deadliest in Russia in 20 years.


FBI concerned about possible attack in US after Moscow massacre

FBI director warns of potential for a coordinated attack in US akin to one carried by Isis-K in Russia March 22 attack in Moscow killed at least 144 people, the deadliest in Russia in 20 years

FBI director warns of potential for a coordinated attack in US akin to one carried by Isis-K in Russia

March 22 attack in Moscow killed at least 144 people, the deadliest in Russia in 20 years