- April 25, 2024
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While ISIS has been in the news a great deal of late, it has always been a problem far from home. But the terrorist organization recently released a “Kill List” that identifies two Palm Coast residences among a total of 100 scattered around the country. The direction from ISIS leaders to their followers: Hunt down and kill these 100, all of whom are current and former U.S. military personnel.
Working closely with the FBI, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has identified the Palm Coast residents.
“The information that was put out by ISIS for Flagler County has been vetted, and there doesn’t appear to be any credible threat,” Undersheriff Rick Staly said. “It appears more that this is a propaganda by ISIS, hoping to get a lone wolf or home-grown terrorist to take action. But all military personnel and retirees, just like law enforcement, should be diligent of their surroundings and report anything suspicious to the Sheriff’s Office.”
The Kill List was compiled using social media, according to several news reports. Like any terrorist act, it presents a challenge in how to respond, Staly said. “You have to take every threat as a potential credible threat and investigate it thoroughly. But you don’t want to paralyze your community for fear. … Our deputies are aware of the threats, they’re aware of the locations … and we’ve increased patrols, even though, through our investigation, there’s no credible threat at this time.”
Still, it’s difficult to know what could ultimately cause a “lone wolf” to act in the future, so Staly repeated his urge for diligence. “The way you prevent lone wolf attacks is through intelligence. Someone calls in a tip and says, ‘This doesn’t look right,’ and law enforcement checks it out. It takes a partnership between law enforcement and the community to prevent these kinds of actions.”
Staly said he has secret security clearance and is privy to more information, but he is not authorized to reveal more about the threats at this time, but, he said, “The community is going to have to trust us that there is no immediate danger.” He added: “Fortunately for us, the targets tend to be bigger cities, but that doesn’t mean you let your guard down in smaller communities. so just report anything that doesn’t look right.”
If you see something that could be immediately dangerous, call 911. Other tips can also go to the sheriff’s nonemergency line at 313-4911.
