Blast Threat for Extortion Fails at Disneyland

A weekend attempt to extort money from Disneyland by threatening to set off a bomb in the amusement park failed, Anaheim police said Monday.

“It was an attempted extortion, but they never located any suspect or any bombs or anything,” Sgt. Gordon McConnell said.

Police referred questions to the FBI.

“Our comment is that we have no comment to make,” FBI Special Agent John Hoos said in Los Angeles.

Hoos, although he provided no details of how the plot unfolded, denied initial rumors that the bomb threat had come from terrorists.

“We are not investigating any terrorist plot at Disneyland,” the FBI spokesman said.

The threat Saturday was received the day after Disneyland had its biggest crowd in eight years, an estimated 70,000 people.

In August, 1980, an extortion attempt at Disneyland prompted heavy security measures, including examination of all visitors’ purses, camera cases and tote bags.

Disneyland security officials checked some visitors’ bags Monday, but park spokesman Bob Roth said such checks now are done routinely.

Roth, neither confirming nor denying the report of a bomb scare, said park operations were not curtailed Saturday. He said threats have never forced Disneyland to close during the park’s 30-year history.

The spokesman acknowledged, however, that “we (at Disneyland) get some kooky calls” from time to time.

“One of my concerns is that this . . . may prompt some copycat responses,” Roth said.

Sources familiar with the 1980 investigation said initial demands from extortionists had a “revolutionary” tenor to them. At least one non-explosive package was placed inside the park as a demonstration that the threat could be carried out, the sources said.

FBI agents at the time attempted on several occasions to follow the extortionists’ directions and delivered a bag supposedly containing payment to a drop-off spot. But contact was never made and, after four days, the extortionists were not heard from again, the sources said.