Emailed threat shuts down Los Angeles Unified School District, U.S.’s second-largest

Emailed threat shuts down Los Angeles Unified School District, U.S.’s second-largest

LOS ANGELES — The nation’s second-largest school district shut down all of its campuses Tuesday after an emailed threat targeted students at many Los Angeles-area schools.

The shooting in nearby San Bernardino that left 14 people dead this month influenced the decision to close all the schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, which 640,000 students attend, Superintendent Ramon Cortines said.

New York City officials say they received the same threat, but quickly concluded that it was a hoax. New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said he thought Los Angeles officials overreacted.

Bratton said the person who wrote the note claimed to be a jihadist, but made errors that made it clear the person was a prankster. SOURCE

Did the Los Angeles Unified School District overreact to this threat?

Maybe they did but maybe not.

There are 2 schools of thought when it comes to terrorists and how you deal with their threats; whether real or perceived.

First, suppose the threat was indeed a REAL threat and the Los Angeles Unified School District had ignored it, can you imagine the cries from not only the folks in the Los Angeles area but from across the entire nation as well?

Second, in my studies of terrorism and terroristic threats it’s unusual for the person making the threat, be it by phone, email, whatever, to actually call in and warn of a REAL threat. That call would defeat the purpose of an attack if they intended to actually kill or maim innocent people.

Whether this *threat* came from a domestic terror source, a foreign terror source or just some ignorant *nut job* prankster that gets his jollies by scaring people in a time of great concern over acts of terror; the terrorists WIN any time an organization like the Los Angeles Unified School District shuts down every campus simply because of the fear that is struck throughout the entire city, not to mention the great amount of money that was spent to get the kids out of the schools and the security that had to have been provided.

Terrorists don’t have to set off bombs and shoot up crowds of people every day to be successful in their goal of terrorizing the population, they get a lot of mileage out of ONE act and the long-lasting and intense fear it instills with just a mention of another act of violence, whether it happens or not.

Jihadists attack and wage war, terrorists terrorize people and that too is an act of war, but there really is a difference between jihad and terror, whether anyone wants to accept it or not.