Bridge Fears Are Called Baseless

The FBI declared Tuesday that the raw intelligence that prompted Gov. Gray Davis’ warning of terrorists targeting West Coast bridges was not credible.

The conclusion was included in a brief threat advisory update sent out over the federal National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System to 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies. In it, the FBI cited its earlier warning, emphasizing that it had picked up “uncorroborated information” that suspension bridges on the West Coast were vulnerable to terrorist attack through today.

“Recipients should be advised that FBI investigation has determined that the threat to suspension bridges is not deemed credible,” the advisory said.

Davis, who was criticized last week by some authorities for unnecessarily fanning public fears, was undeterred Tuesday, saying he believes he “took the correct steps by increasing security” and issuing the warning. He said he intends to keep National Guard troops at the Golden Gate and San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridges in the Bay Area, the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro and the Coronado Bridge in San Diego.

“It’s not uncommon for the information to change from one day to the next,” Davis said. “So I’m not surprised that their assessment has changed. But it may change again, three or four days from now. Those bridges are as secure as they have ever been, and if people want to cross those bridges, they never have been safer.”

Davis issued the warning at a news conference Thursday, saying that authorities from three federal agencies had issued bulletins and that there was “credible” evidence of a terrorist threat being planned on the bridges between Friday and today.

The FBI bulletin, however, called the threat “uncorroborated” and made no mention of specific bridges. The warning went out to eight Western states. Governors in those states, other than Davis, did not release the bulletin or issue their own warnings.

Davis, who was in Santa Monica on Tuesday attending an economic conference, said he still believes it “was important to tell people because I got that information personally less than 24 hours [before publicly declaring the threat], and it was one of the first warnings we had gotten in six weeks which was location-specific--the suspension bridges--and time-specific--starting at rush hour.

“And I wanted to treat Californians like adults, to allow them to make the best judgments they could make, as to whether or not to use those bridges,” the Democratic governor said.

Still, criticism continued Tuesday. Secretary of State Bill Jones, a Republican candidate for governor, said attendance at trade shows in San Francisco was down Friday, perhaps because people were afraid to cross bridges into the city.

“Tourism already has been hammered so badly that we have to be cautious,” Jones said, adding that California must either improve its ability to analyze FBI bulletins or wait until federal authorities more fully investigate such tips before releasing the information.

FBI officials on Tuesday repeated their request that local law enforcement agencies immediately relay any information about potential terrorist threats to federal agents. The bureau also stressed that it wants law enforcement to remain on high alert and guard against possible terrorist activities.

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Morain reported from Sacramento, Meyer from Washington and Silverstein from Santa Monica.