WTF: People linked to al-Qaeda in Spotsylvania County and a (probably unrelated) attempt to bring down Dominion Power lines?

The Jawa Report linked to a copy of a report from the Virginia Fusion Center (PDF) which was posted on the Canadian Free Press‘ website which has these gems in it:

Enclaves of Salafist ideology adherents have been identified in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads areas.10

[…]

According to 2009 public safety survey data, the counties of Fairfax and Spotsylvania reported awareness of individuals potentially linked to al-Qa’ida living, working, or otherwise linked to their jurisdictions.13

[…]

10 (LES) 2009 VFC Threat Assessment Survey: Fairfax County, City of Falls Church, , Spotsylvania County, VSP Division 1)

[…]

13 (LES) 2009 VFC Threat Assessment Survey:

And those aren’t the only interesting parts. Further in the report, it documents incidents regarding threats to critical infrastructure and includes this incident:

Suspicious activity reports concerning Virginia’s Energy Sector include:

[…]

  • In February 2009, two camp propane tanks at the base of two high voltage Dominion Power tower legs were set on fire in Spotsylvania. The tanks had duct tape over the propane  cylinders, and a separate container had been placed at the base of one of the tower legs and ignited. Numerous wooden matches, a cigarette butt, gasoline, and a light oil substance were also found. According to officials at the scene, if the propane tanks had been approximately 12″ higher and fully engulfed and ignited, the resulting fire could have caused a tower collapse.450

[…]

450 (LES) Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office Situational Awareness Bulletin dated February 12, 2009

Pictures of the devices used and the damage caused can be seen on p. 164 of the report as well.

I haven’t read through the whole report but I’ll post anything else interesting I find.

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