Speaking at a briefing with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Comey dismissed any notion that that U.S.is the target of any specific or credible attacks, the USA Today reports.
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In a joint news conference Thursday night, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said the video was “not credible intelligence”.
On November 13, several executed a series of coordinated attacks at venues across Paris, killing a few 130 people and injuring over 350, at restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and in the vicinity of the Stade de France stadium.
“The risk with a troubled soul who is consuming the propaganda is that they might try and copy that which they saw in Europe”, Comey said.
Separately, Lynch said the Justice Department opposes congressional legislation that would put up barriers to Syrian refugees seeking to enter the United States.
He confirmed that investigators are aware of threats circulated online by individuals claiming to be part of the Islamic State, including a video that praises the attacks in Paris while featuring previously used footage of a person preparing to detonate a suicide bomb in Times Square, but noted much of the media is only propaganda and not a substantiated threat.
“We’re acting aggressively to diffuse threats as they emerge and we’re vigorously investigating and prosecuting those who seek to harm the American people”, said Lynch.
New information was released about a video allegedly released by ISIS that threatened the White House and Rome. “We will keep watching them, and if we see something, we’ll work to disrupt it. That’s what we’re doing about it”, he said.
Comey offered this advice to the American public: “Don’t let fear become disabling… turn fear into a healthy awareness of what’s around you”.
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“They want us to live in fear, and we refuse”, the attorney general said. “Second, we made sure that we were tightly connected with our state and local partners, that they knew everything we knew and that they were as energised as we are”, he said. “If you see something that gives you a bad feeling, tell somebody in law enforcement”.
