Mass. leaders told Boston could be terrorist target, but no specific threats made
By Jay Lindsay, Associated Press, 09/21/01
BOSTON -- Robert D'Amore isn't changing his weekend plans, despite talk of a possible terrorist attack in the Boston area in the coming days.
On Sunday, he'll be with tens of thousands of other New England Patriots fans for the home opener at Foxboro Stadium, a place he admits might be a "big target."
"I'm going to bring a big flag with me," said D'Amore, 34, of Watertown. "If stuff happens, it happens."
City officials encouraged such defiance Friday, saying they had investigated a warning from Attorney General John Ashcroft that Boston might be targeted by terrorists this weekend, and found no evidence of an imminent threat.
"This is the time to stand up to fear," said state Attorney General Thomas Reilly. "Now is the time to visit the city and go wherever you want to go. There is nothing that we know that should cause you to disrupt your daily lives."
Spider Edwards, 71, of Dorchester, was ready to follow Reilly's advice.
"This is my town," he said as he emerged from a Downtown Crossing subway stop. "I'm not going to be scared away."
Ashcroft's warning came Thursday in phone calls to Mayor Thomas Menino and acting Governor Jane Swift. Menino said Ashcroft wanted to share "concerns about some activities in the city of Boston." He and Swift declined to be more specific.
Police commissioner Paul Evans said Ashcroft's information was thoroughly investigated.
"I can tell you right now we have no specific threats, credible threats that would cause the kind of fear and anxiety that's out there right now," Evans said, speaking at a news conference called after police were inundated with calls Friday morning.
But the reassurances did not work on everyone.
Jim Zemblidge, 45, a homeless man who lives in Boston, said he's not taking chances.
"I'm going to stay out of larger buildings that a lot of people go to and avoid subways," he said. "Those would be easy targets."
Ken Duckworth, medical director for the Department of Mental Health, said so many people sought stress counseling at the McCormick state office building Friday that sessions were extended from one hour to all day.
He estimated 80 people were counseled Friday, compared to 15 per day in the three days after the Sept. 11 attacks. Some were shaken by the report of a possible attack on Boston, he said.
Concerns have been further heightened by a widely circulated e-mail with the subject line "DO NOT GO INTO BOSTON!!!"
The e-mail claimed a bartender in Boston overheard intoxicated "Arab men" before last Tuesday's attacks who claimed there would be "a lot of bloodshed in Boston" on Sept. 22 -- Saturday.
FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said the agency had looked into the e-mail and found "nothing credible."
Though officials have discounted immediate threats, state facilities have stepped up security.
Jonathan Yeo, spokesman for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, says security has been increased, though there have been no threats to the drinking water supplies in the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs.
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said Friday the agency ordered several hundred disposable gas masks for workers use in case of emergency, though he stressed the agency hasn't received threats.
"It would be naive to think that any specific area is immune to what we saw happen," he said.
Northeastern University freshman Chris Unger, 19, said he's not worried about an impending attack.
"I guess you can't really run away," he said. "I'm not going to change my life for this."
"Where would I go anyway?" the native of Lexington, a Boston suburb, said with a smile. "I live 10 minutes away."
