Columnist Jeff German: ‘Satan city’ cops left out of loop

Friday, April 11, 2003 | 11:16 a.m.

The biggest surprise coming out of this week's federal trial of suspected terrorists in Detroit is not that they talked about targeting Las Vegas.

It's that Justice Department authorities prosecuting the suspects failed to inform local lawmen, particularly Sheriff Bill Young, that Las Vegas was considered a target.

And Young, who put together Southern Nevada's homeland security plan, is fuming.

"To withhold information regarding the safety and security of a community is irresponsible," Young said Thursday.

Youssef Hmimssa, an FBI-protected witness, testified in Detroit on Wednesday that the suspects, who were arrested after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with a videotape of the MGM Grand and other Strip resorts in their possession, boasted about wanting to "destroy Las Vegas."

The suspects, Hmimssa said, called Las Vegas the "city of Satan."

Young said he heard about Hmimssa's allegations from newspaper accounts of the trial -- which isn't the best way for the city's top cop to find out about a terrorist threat.

The testimony has created a credibility problem for local law enforcement authorities, who have been assuring us since Sept. 11 that there have been no believable threats to Las Vegas, even though all four pilots of the hijacked jetliners in the attacks once spent time here.

"If I had known about this, I wouldn't have said what I said in the press in the past year, that there has never been one iota of evidence of a threat," Young explained. "This makes us look like idiots."

Some have questioned Hmimssa's credibility. He turned government witness to save his own skin in the Detroit case, and the videotape has been described as fairly innocuous -- something you would make during a family vacation to Las Vegas.

But his testimony indicates that Las Vegas is on the radar screen of Islamic terrorists.

Young said Las Vegas FBI chief Ellen Knowlton told him that she also wasn't briefed about Hmimssa's revelations, which, if true, is astonishing. You would think such information would at the very least be shared within the Justice Department.

Knowlton was unavailable for comment Thursday. She put out a two-paragraph statement saying Justice Department guidelines prohibit her from discussing the Detroit case.

And the U.S attorney's office in Detroit said it could not comment because of a judicial gag order over the trial.

But it seems obvious that the new partnership between local and federal authorities in the war on terrorism needs refining.

Las Vegans have a right to know about threats to their security in a timely fashion. At least tell the sheriff.

Not too long ago, Attorney General John Ashcroft told authorities in Las Vegas that sharing information was the key to preventing terrorism.

"I clearly heard from the attorney general that there was going to be collaboration and an exchange of information," Young said. "And that has not happened."

Maybe Ashcroft should tell his Justice Department to start practicing what he preaches.