Homeland Security: Mall Threat Not Credible

The Department of Homeland Security did some backtracking soon after its chief warned yesterday that Mall of America shoppers should be "particularly careful" after a terror threat. A department spokeswoman says that although the mall was named in a video released by Somali extremists al-Shabab, "we are not aware of any specific, credible plot against the Mall of America or any other domestic commercial shopping center" and that people shouldn't avoid malls, Reuters reports. The Minnesota mall beefed up security after the threat, and a law enforcement official tells the New York Times that he worries the video message, which also names sites in Canada, Britain, and France, could inspire extremists in the area to launch an attack.

In Canada, where the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta was named as a target, the country's public safety minister says Canada "will not be intimidated by threats from any terrorist organization," CNN reports. Minnesotans don't appear to be intimidated, either: There was no sign of a fall in traffic at the Mall of America yesterday, which shoppers and workers alike said seemed no different from any other day, reports the Star Tribune. "I'm more afraid of the cold today than any terrorists," one shopper told the newspaper. (More Mall of America stories.)