Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Young: FBI sorry about mix-up

While visiting Washington, D.C., last month, Sheriff Bill Young said he received a face-to-face apology from FBI director Robert Mueller for federal authorities' failure to notify Young about an alleged terrorist intent to attack Las Vegas.

Young said he is now satisfied with assurances that there would be no repeat of the communication breakdown in Las Vegas or anywhere else in the nation.

While in the nation's capital for National Police Officer's Memorial Day, Young met with FBI officials who were contrite over the lack of communication between federal officials and Southern Nevada law enforcement agencies, Young said.

"When I met with him, he said, 'You're probably sick of hearing this, but I'm going to apologize again that the information didn't get passed on. It shouldn't have happened,' " Young said. "They communicated to me that it shouldn't have gone down that way, and we should've given a heads up so we could have been prepared."

On Tuesday, two of four Arab immigrants were convicted in Detroit of conspiring to support Islamic extremists who were allegedly plotting attacks against U.S. targets. A third was found guilty of a fraud charge, and a fourth was acquitted.

At the heart of the case was material found during a raid of a Detroit apartment on Sept. 17, 2001. Authorities looking for a man on a terrorist watch list found fake documents, airport badges and a videotape that the government said showed possible targets of terrorism, including the MGM Grand on the Strip and Disneyland.

Youssef Hmimssa, a key government witness in the resulting federal trial in Detroit, testified in April that one of the defendants, Ahmed Hannan, wanted to attack Las Vegas, which he called the "City of Satan," because Arabs spent money on sinful behavior here.

Local law enforcement agencies found out about the video and possible threat when the testimony came out at the trial in April. Young expressed anger that federal officials didn't tell him of the threat, but soon stopped making public comments after a judge imposed a gag order.

Young sent two officers to Detroit to watch the trial. They stayed for about a week.

"I just wanted to get a firsthand account of what information was coming out of the trial," Young said. "But there really weren't any surprises. Nothing came out that hadn't already been reported, and there wasn't any clear and convincing testimony that anything was going to be planned for the future."

With the convictions Tuesday, the gag order expired. Young said he received a committment from FBI officials that he would be told of any threats against Las Vegas in the future. He said that "we've fixed this problem from occurring again in this community" and he said he's confident the same thing won't happen anywhere else, either.

It would be wrong to say there was a breakdown in communication between Metro and the FBI, Young said. It was the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit that knew about Hmimssa's testimony and didn't share it, Young said.

"They were trying to get convictions," Young said. "The FBI said it was their preference that we would hear about it."

Despite Hmimmsa's testimony, Young said he didn't believe Las Vegas was a real target of the defendants.

"There was testimony from a third party who said he had conversations with (the defendants) where they said we were a target," he said. "I am not personally aware of any testimony of any suspected or convicted persons who said we were a target."

Another snub from federal officials came last month, when Las Vegas was left off a list of 30 urban areas most likely to be terrorist targets. Young said he "found it hard to believe" that Las Vegas would be denied a portion of $500 million in federal funds given to help cities fight terrorism, given Hannan's alleged threat against the city.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., asked Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge why Las Vegas wasn't included, and Ridge said the formula wasn't perfect. Ridge also said he would meet with Gibbons privately to discuss the issue.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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