March Madness Prompts Alert

FBI and Homeland Security don't cite a specific threat in warning
By Caroline Miller,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 5, 2008 9:15 AM CST

March Madness should have security forces on high alert, the FBI and Dept. of Homeland Security warned in a joint statement yesterday, as crowded sporting events are “potential targets” for terrorists. College basketball games are just some of the many sporting events that "regularly bring tens of thousands of fans...into large open-access facilities” that are hard to secure, the agencies note.

“We have no current threats against sports venues," said an FBI spokesman, but at the start of the spring sports season federal security officials wanted to remind law enforcement agencies “to remain vigilant." The FBI recorded 34 suspicious events at sporting facilities last year but all of them “lacked sufficient information” to declare them terrorist activity. (More Department of Homeland Security stories.)

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