Public Notes Alert but It’s Business as Usual

There among the reports of stolen cars and petty burglaries spilling out of the old-fashioned teletype machine at police headquarters in Colonie, N.Y., Monday night was the FBI notice to be on the lookout for 13 suspected terrorists.

Next to it sat a new computer terminal dedicated to warning of terrorist threats. It remained silent, not yet operational.

The scene reflected the country’s uncertainty as Americans grappled with the heightened awareness of potential terrorism.

For the most part, they went about their business despite the FBI notice. But they couldn’t shake the notion that they were in more danger than they had known before terrorists struck on Sept. 11.

“We are deploying our resources and manpower today in the exact same way as yesterday,” Colonie Police Chief John Grebert said. “Without more specific targets being named, that’s all we can do. But I understand perfectly that these alerts serve a useful purpose--keeping the average citizen aware.”

Average citizens did indeed seem aware. Many said that, while they were alarmed by warnings from federal officials that more attacks were virtually certain, they were trying to get on with their lives.

So in the face of the latest reminder that terrorists might be plotting against the United States, airline flights went on as scheduled. Travel plans remained intact. Commuter trains were packed.

In Washington, checkpoints for trucks near the Capitol were restored, and security appeared tighter.

At the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, officials said they made sure the appropriate security forces there had the FBI photos and names in hand, although they noted that nothing in the known threat was connected directly to the Games.

“In essence, we’re doing nothing differently in the realm of security today,” said Dave Tubbs, director of the Olympic Public Safety Command. “Frankly, we can’t see anything else we can do. We’re satisfied with our plan.”

In Los Angeles, the latest FBI alert may have delayed a decision by Mayor James K. Hahn’s administration to remove barriers blocking Main, Los Angeles and San Pedro streets near City Hall and Parker Center, the police headquarters.

“The mayor is interested in seeing the streets reopened as long as we have a confidence level that we can keep the visitors and employees in Civic Center safe,” said Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook.

“We’ve been on a heightened alert right along,” said police spokesman Sgt. John Pasquariello.

In Seattle, under sunny skies at Pike Place Market, Greg Marks, 27, bought flowers for a friend and walked among the lunchtime crowd.

“I heard about [the warning] on the radio this morning. It’s hard to get really worked up about it though,” said Marks, who added that he already has had to deal with revelations that local targets were found in computers in Afghanistan. “Life has to go on. If we live in fear, then the bad guys win.”

Possible Al Qaeda Connection Emerges

Monday’s alert made no mention of Al Qaeda, but Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft said in an appearance in Texas on Tuesday that those named in the alert “may be associated with Osama bin Laden or the Al Qaeda network and . . . may be planning attacks on U.S. interests.”

A Justice Department official said the Al Qaeda connection was based on new intelligence gathered since Monday’s alert. Officials said the suspects could be planning attacks as early as Tuesday, based on information culled from sources in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Federal officials said the alert was issued to keep the public aware.

“There is nothing different to be done,” said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security. “This isn’t a raising of the alert status. It’s literally an APB. We’ve got names and we’ve got pictures.”

Past FBI warnings, including three nationwide alerts since Sept. 11, have drawn concerns from police and the public about a “Chicken Little” syndrome, with frequent alerts leading the public to grow cavalier about possible risks.

But FBI officials said they had heard no similar negative reaction after Monday’s warning.

“It was clear this time what was being sought--here’s names and pictures and specific information. It’s in harmony with our trying to get out more information,” said an FBI official who asked not to be identified.

Ashcroft, in his San Antonio appearance, said: “While this alert is not specific to any particular locality, I want to encourage all law enforcement officials, and, frankly, all Americans everywhere, to be on the highest state of alert in regard to these individuals. I encourage individuals to report anything that they consider to be suspicious.”

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Times staff writers Eric Lichtblau and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington, John J. Goldman in New York, Julie Cart in Salt Lake City and Kenneth Reich in Los Angeles, and researchers Edith Stanley in Atlanta and Lynn Marshall in Seattle, contributed to this report.