Lankford: No reason to believe similar election day terror plots planned ‘I still encourage everyone to vote’
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)— In light of a foiled election day terror plot, Oklahoma U.S. Senator James Lankford encouraged voters to feel safe to go to the polls next month, with the knowledge law enforcement did its job in preventing the attack.
News 4 reported earlier this week, the FBI arrested Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi after he allegedly attempted to buy multiple AK-47 assault rifles to use in an ISIS-inspired terror plot to shoot large crowds of people on election day.
On Sunday’s upcoming episode of KFOR’s ‘FlashPoint,’ U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) said his office has been closely following the FBI’s investigation into Tawhedi’s alleged plot.
“This has been a case that I’ve tracked for several weeks,” said Lankford, who is a member of the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and Intelligence committees. “I’ve had classified briefings and I’ve had conversations with law enforcement behind the scene before he was actually arrested as they were tracking and working through the process. So this is one I’ve been very carefully engaged in, because those of us in Oklahoma City understand full well what terrorism looks like. We’ve experienced that first hand.”
Lankford said he spoke with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland over the phone this week.
Garland was a federal prosecutor at the time of the Murrah Building Bombing in 1995 and helped prosecute the case against perpetrator Timothy McVeigh.
“He made the statement to me, as we talked back and forth on it, to say his commitment in tracking this case was to make sure Oklahoma City did not experience another act of terrorism,” Lankford said. “As amazing as the statement was to me as we just talked back and forth, he said he wishes the FBI could’ve done then what the FBI did now.”
He said FBI officials from the Bureau’s Oklahoma City field office did an extremely professional job in stopping the attack Tawhedi allegedly was planning.
“The FBI’s Oklahoma City field office did a remarkable job,” Lankford said. “The details will come out of this case in the days ahead, they did a remarkable job identifying someone who was absolutely planning to kill as many people as possible and die a martyr’s death on behalf of ISIS, had recruited a juvenile to join him. Both the juvenile has been arrested, he has been arrested, both of them will face serious terror charges. And they should. But it’s also a reminder to us that there are still people in the world that mean to do us harm, that hate our freedom. He was picking election day with an ISIS affiliation for a reason. That’s a deliberate statement about ‘I hate Americans’ freedom.’”
Lankford said, while it’s understandable some people may feel a bit uneasy about going to vote on election day in light of the thwarted attack, the fact that the FBI did its job and stopped it should give people comfort that they can safely vote in-person.
He said he has not received any intelligence to suggest other elections day attacks are or may have been planned.
“There’s no way to know what you don’t know, but I will tell you there’s not another case we’re tracking like this right now,” Lankford said. “I still encourage everyone to vote. Get involved in voting, stay engaged in that. We have very, very good law enforcement that is engaged in trying to be able to track these things.”
Additionally, the Oklahoma City Police Department recently announced its officers have received additional training on election laws.
In a Facebook post, the department said it’s top priority will be to keep people safe as they vote next month.
They reminded everyone to report suspicious activity if they see it.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) is encouraging people to download its ProtectOK app, where people can report suspicious activities they see.
OHP says people should still call 9-1-1 in the event of a life-threatening emergency.