L.A. Target of Y2K Terrorism?

Police, FBI Agents on High Alert to Protect New Year's Revelers

WHILE months have been spent preparing for the possibility of power outages and computer glitches connected to the Y2K phenomenon, a more-furtive effort is being undertaken by federal and local law enforcement officials to make sure that terrorists don't spoil the New Year's celebration.

It's the largest-scale preventative mobilization that Los Angeles has seen since the 1984 Summer Olympics, when security experts feared a terrorist attack during one of the athletic events.

Terrorist experts warn that a slew of extremist groups -- both foreign and domestic -- place some significance on the new millennium, and it could be viewed as the perfect occasion for apocalyptic violence.

"I think law enforcement agencies and government do need to be concerned about the possibility of millennium terrorism because it is a highly symbolic date," said Ian Lesser, a terrorism analyst with Rand Corp. in Santa Monica. "There may be networks of individuals who may want to give history a shove."

Many radical fringe groups that are anti-Semitic, anti-minority, anti-gay and/or anti-government.

Some experts view L.A. as a prime terrorist target because of its liberal-leaning ways, multiracial makeup, and geographic importance. It also is the entertainment capital of the world, perceived by some extremists as a purveyor of loose morals and wanton ways.

"We will have means of collecting information from around the city," said Capt. Gary Brennan, commanding officer of the LAPD's Anti-Terrorist Division, which was established in 1983 to monitor groups and individuals planning terrorist activities. "We'll analyze that information as it comes in and assess the threat."

Brennan would not specify where his officers will be stationed or how many will be on the streets. "I can tell you we'll be paying attention to all the major venues where there will be activity and Y2K celebrations," he said.

The FBI, which is the principal agency in charge of investigating and monitoring terrorist activities in the United States, has been coordinating information and activities with local law enforcement agencies.

Last month, the agency released a report outlining its assessment of the potential for domestic terrorism in the United States. That assessment, called Project Megiddo (named for a hill in northern Israel where many battles have been fought), concluded that the new millennium could increase the odds of extremists taking violent measures, especially against law enforcement officers. The study did not specify any particular areas as being targeted.

But one spot widely perceived to be vulnerable - Los Angeles International Airport - is going to be fortified on New Year's with a beefed-up patrol of L.A. Police Department officers, as well as an extra contingent from the 300-member Airport Police force, said Nancy Castles, an LAX spokeswoman. Five LAPD bomb-sniffing dogs will be on duty that night.

"We do know that airports and airlines have always been a subject of terrorist interest," Castles said.

As for the most likely perpetrators of terrorism, a report by the Anti-Defamation League identifies individuals associated with violence-prone political extremists, anti-government militias, self-styled "patriot" groups and certain religious fundamentalists.

One of those groups is Concerned Christians, which settled in Israel last year and was deported early this year to the United States, the report states. Members believe that their leader, Monte Kim Miller, will die on the streets of Israel next month and be resurrected three days later. This group now is believed to be in Colorado.

Another cult is the House of Yahweh, whose followers are awaiting the return of Jesus in their compound in Abilene, Texas. Bill Hawkins, the cult's leader, believes that soon he will announce the second coming of Christ and then be murdered by Satan, the report states.

The Japanese cult, Aim Shinrikyo, is talked about because of its 1995 sarin poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway, which killed 12 people and sickened about 6,000. The group believes the apocalypse is coming soon after 2000.

In its Project Megiddo report, the FBI urges law enforcement officials to keep a watchful eye on white supremacy groups such as the National Alliance, the American Nazi Party and the National Socialist White People's Party.

In response to such threats, the LAPD is ordering all officers who do not have a scheduled vacation to work during New Year's. Each of the department's four geographic areas will have a command post set up with at least 50 to 70 mobile field officers ready for deployment, said LAPD spokesman Jason Lee.

The FBI also is making sure it has plenty of well-prepared assistance over the New Year's weekend. Last March the bureau led a five-day exercise with 2,000 federal and local officials responding to a staged "terrorist threat." The exercise took place at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Westwood and at the Van Nuys Airport.

At the air facility, a mock nerve agent was released into the environment. Participants had to assess the damage, get it under control, transport the dead and injured to local facilities, and track down terrorists.

Just last week, more than 1,000 government employees took part in a Y2K disaster preparedness drill at the county Emergency Operations Center in East L.A. With at least 53 of the county's 88 cities participating, various scenarios were played out during the day. Mock reports of riots, traffic jams, power outages and cult suicides were transmitted to the center's computers, and then county officials dispatched emergency personnel to those various locations.

One factor that makes terrorist-response efforts especially complex in Los Angeles is the area's vastness - a city encompassing 468 square miles and a county sprawling across 4,000 square miles.

Within that expanse, some of the closest attention will be paid to hot spots where large numbers of partygoers will be gathered. Such high-density areas could enable terrorists to inflict a maximum amount of destruction.

And there will be no shortage of such areas on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. It is estimated that as many as 2 million revelers will be on L.A's streets ushering in the dawn of a new millennium, law enforcement officials said.

Thousands will crowd downtown Los Angeles and Olvera Street Plaza to listen to Los Lobos in a city-sponsored event. Hundreds are expected to crowd around Los Angeles Harbor to view a city-sponsored light show. Thousands will be on the streets at midnight to watch the lighting of the Hollywood sign.

Some 20,000 will be at Staples Center for a concert by the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Brown. Other possible spots for trouble include the Federal Building in Westwood where the FBI offices are housed, City Hall in downtown Los Angeles and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena

But the threat is not limited to jam-packed venues. An attack could occur in any smaller, relatively unknown location, like the one where Los Angeles' most recent terrorist attack took place.

Last August, Buford O. Furrow Jr., a white supremacist from rural Washington, drove 1,000 miles to the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, where he shot five people at the center and later killed a Filipino-American postman, according to police.

Ever since that incident, security has been heightened around various local synagogues, temples and Jewish organizations. In addition, New Year's Eve falls on a Friday, when thousands of Jews will be worshiping at their local temples.

"Everyone has tight security," said a top security official at the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, an umbrella group of Jewish organizations. "Of course, we'll be taking extra precautions on New Year's Eve."