Authorities Downplay Rumors of an Attack on L.A.

Allyson Hubbard heard a rumor from her manicurist that terrorists might attack Los Angeles today. Her daughter Emily, a student nurse, heard the same thing from doctors at the hospital where she works.

“I keep hearing that something big is going to happen . . . another big terrorist attack, either here at the studios or in New York,” said Emily Hubbard, 22, as the two shopped Friday at Northridge Fashion Center.

“I heard somebody say today that it came from the FBI.”

Law enforcement authorities said Friday that various scary, unsubstantiated rumors were swirling around Southern California.

One focused on a terrorist attack today. Another warned residents not to drink the water.

Officials from the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power were quick to emphasize that, though they remain vigilant after last week’s terrorist attacks, the rumors have no known basis in fact.

“We have issued nothing in the way of a warning except an advisory Thursday about a possible threat to the movie studios,” said FBI spokesman Matt McLaughlin.

“Certainly, if there was an imminent threat to the public, we would warn the public,” he added.

Still, he said, no one can dismiss the possibility of more attacks.

“This has to be balanced with the perspective that we have been, in a general sense, on alert since the 11th,” he said. “Quite frankly, all things are possible. Could something happen tomorrow? Absolutely. Sunday? Absolutely, or some other day.”

Gov. Gray Davis has said the state was flying more patrols over the California Aqueduct. On Friday, DWP spokeswoman Gale Harris said the drinking water remains safe.

“The DWP has had no threats,” she said.

“As precautionary measures, however, we have increased the testing of the water, we have added security at manned facilities and patrols at unmanned facilities.”

An FBI advisory Thursday to Southern California’s seven major movie studios helped fuel the rumors. It warned that a studio could be a terrorist target.

Similar rumors are plaguing Boston. On Friday, U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft warned the city of possible terrorist attacks there in the next few days. Later, he said the warning had been based on unreliable information.

Some rumors have centered on today because of news reports on an FBI list of people wanted for questioning in the terror investigation. The list includes five who were booked to fly today from San Antonio to Denver and on to San Diego.

In Los Angeles, police officials tried to ease residents’ fears. “There have been rumors,” said LAPD spokesman Guillermo Campos, “but our intelligence has not confirmed that any of them are valid.”

Rumors of even bigger disasters to come often circulate here after earthquakes. And on Dec. 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, people in Los Angeles were terrified by fast-spreading reports that Japanese aircraft carriers had been seen off the coast.

The harbor area was closed to shipping. Guns were placed on the roofs of aircraft and defense plants.

No attacks occurred.

Rumors have a way of spreading fast in uncertain times, said USC sociology professor Barry Glassner, author of the book “The Culture of Fear.”

“When people feel insecure, they are much more likely to be listening to rumors and repeating them,” Glassner said.

It’s hard for people to believe that Los Angeles won’t be hit too, said UCLA sociologist Jill Stein.

“I think we all feel that in a weird way, we dodged the bullet, that there was something aimed right for us that didn’t arrive,” she said. “In a way, I think we may be experiencing sort of the guilt of the survivor.”

In her head, Maria Garcia, 21, of Van Nuys said, she knows she’s probably pretty safe.

Still, she said, she hasn’t been drinking the tap water since she saw a report on Spanish-language television about how terrorists might contaminate the supply.

She’s being careful, she said.

“Mostly I don’t go to L.A. since we have all the big buildings down there,” she said.

“And I was planning to go to Magic Mountain, but I think I’ll delay that.”

Brett Reynolds, 22, of Chatsworth said he was still making up his mind about whether to go to a Dodger game today.

“I heard something was going to happen on the 22nd. That’s in the back of my mind,” he said.

“But I also want to invest in the economy because we need that, plus tickets are like $20 each.”

Sitting on a bench at Northridge Fashion Center, Emily Hubbard said she wasn’t going to let fear take over.

“I’m definitely more cautious, but I don’t think something will necessarily happen on a day everyone knows about,” she said of the rumors of an attack today.

“We just sort of have to go about doing what we do and take care.”