NYPD: Homegrown Terror Threat On The Rise

New York, NY —

NYPD intelligence analysts say the threat from so-called "homegrown terrorists" is growing. WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports.

REPORTER: In 2007, the NYPD issued a report on post 9-11 plots to launch attacks in western nations, including the US. Co-author Mitch Silber says cases like that of former Queens resident Najibullah Zazi, who targeted the subway, and that of Bridgeport resident Faisal Shahzad, who prosecutors say zeroed in on Times Square, validate the report's analysis.

SILBER: Radicalization is happening in the United States and we know that from the arrests, the significant number of arrests that have already happened in 2009 and 2010.

REPORTER: Silber spoke at an NYPD seminar for the private security industry. He says US military actions to counter terrorism in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia are actually used as a recruiting tool by cyber based jihad boosters, who say the US is waging a war on Islam. For WNYC I am Bob Hennelly.