Threat Assessment
with to film in Beirut and Egypt, had offered to f ly Mosab in from Los Angeles first class to make the event. Mosab was anxious to do the speech. He was doing it for free, though others had paid him $60,000 to do so. Ron picked him up at 6 a.m. in Baltimore and took him to his house for a nap. May 18 was rainy w it h lower than normal temperatures. As I approached the Crystal Q meeting facility, I saw two unsmiling men in hunting garb. I pulled up to see that my colleague CB Nagel was with them. “He’s OK,” CB smiled in his raincoat. The men didn’t smile. I could see there was lots of room for firearms under their jackets. A car sitting at the top of the hill 300 yards from the building was positioned to oversee the arrival from a distance. I was later told it was equipped with weapons capable of destroying a vehicle traveling at high rates of speed if it were suspected of carrying a car bomb. “You are to park your car through the barricades behind the building,” one of the men said, “beside the blue car.” “Okay,” I said, “where’s Les?” Les was in charge of securit y inside the facility. “You’ll see him inside.” The man was very serious. I drove into the back parking lot and spotted one of the police of f icials I had met w ith before. He was standing in a camouf lage
Have everyone arrive in a parking lot, park their cars and board a bus. Take the bus on a ride so we can make sure no one is following you, and go to the church.” “I am going to have to meet with our committee to see if we are going to have it at all,” I said, thanking them both. “I’ll keep you informed, no matter where it is.” “If it’s not in the town of Easton, we DON’T want to know,” said the chief. I called Ron Ensminger, who had arranged for our guest speaker. “After what I have just been told, we should cancel this event! I don’t think it is a good idea for him to be anywhere in Talbot County,” I said. Ron disagreed, telling me that he himself had been threatened by Jihadis and had informed the police. “I think we need to find a private residence in the county, get a private security detail and just invite our group,” he said. “It’s not worth the danger!” I insisted. “I’ll think and pray about it.” The next morning, I got another call from Captain Waltrup. “I wanted to let you know wherever you decide to hold this, I and a few of my men will lead your private security detail. We have access to Homeland Security barricades, which we will set up and secure the event. No one will get in who is not on the list,” he said. Ron, a friend whom I had traveled 48