NY Officials Respond to ISIS-K Threat to T20 Cricket World Cup

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Facts

• Ahead of the Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup on Long Island, New York, security has been ramped up by law enforcement in light of threats made by the Islamic State group – Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), as the games begin this weekend.¹
• Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick J. Ryder has said that they were made aware of a 'global' ISIS-K-linked threat in April. A specific threat circulating online has called for a 'lone wolf' attack during the India-Pakistan match on June 9.¹
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said that there is no current and credible threat to the games at present but that security has been elevated in an effort that includes state, local, and federal law enforcement.²
• Safety measures at the 34K-seat Eisenhower Stadium will include metal detectors, restrictions on what items can be brought in, and a no-fly zone over the stadium. 100 officers will also be patrolling neighborhoods around the venue.³
• Ryder has said that security collaborations have been ongoing for seven months. The New York Police Department says that 'sustained official and supporter-generated propaganda' has made sports venues priority targets for terrorism.⁴
• The New York Police Department assessment mentioned the Islamic State group attack on a Moscow music venue in March as contributing to the current threat environment in which Ryder says all threats must be treated as potentially credible.⁴

Sources: ¹CNN, ²The Hill, ³New York Post and ⁴6abc Philadelphia.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Newsweek. While the Islamic State group has largely faded from the minds of Washington and the West, the threat they and other Islamist terrorist groups pose is still real and substantial. After the withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan, the Taliban has been unable to hold back the ISIS-K resurgence, as it plots to make international their terror mission in a way that hasn't been seen in years. The world must act now to contain the ISIS-K threat.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Brookings. The world that birthed the Islamic State group's reign of terror in the 2010s is not the world of 2024. Increased anti-terror cooperation, leadership struggles, and the weakening of their propaganda machine have made the group a much weaker threat than they once were. The recent attacks in Moscow were aberrations, and the group currently exists as a paper tiger. Let's not get too quickly wrapped up in terror hysteria once again.

Predictions