At Sarasota town hall, U.S. government security officials warn people to look out for possible terrorist threats

SARASOTA -- Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, and House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul visited Sarasota Monday to talk to law enforcement officials about vigilance for possible terrorist attacks.

"Be vigilant, report things," McCaul told the group of Manatee and Sarasota officials. "In every one of these failures someone failed to say something, like in the Boston bombing he was kicked out of a mosque for being too radicalized."

Buchanan and McCaul drew on past terrorist attacks, such as the Boston bombing, San Bernardino shooting and the Chattanooga shooting, to warn about future possibilities. McCaul said in almost every case there were warning signs that people failed to disclose. Some cases illustrate the federal government needs to get better surveillance tactics on social media, he added.

A small group from Manatee County government, the Bradenton Police Department, the Palmetto Police

Department, the Manatee County School Board, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, the West Manatee Fire District, the Sarasota Police Department, Sarasota County government and the Venice Police Department attended the meeting at the Sarasota County Commission chambers.

For example, Tashfeen Malik, the reported female shooter in San Bernardino, had posts on Facebook that hinted at her ISIS loyalties, McCaul said. If the federal government had evolved to catch those posts or heard about them from civilian reports, the tragedy may have been prevented.

"We have to try to imagine things that can happen and stop them," McCaul said. "Because the terrorists are always evolving."

In order to combat threats, McCaul and Buchanan talked about legislation that would make the United States more secure from potential terrorists entering the country. One is the visa waiver bill voted through the House, which McCaul thinks will keep terrorist fighters with Western passports out of the United States.

"Five thousand of them have Western passports, which means until we pass the visa waiver bill they could get into the United States without a visa," McCaul said. "Fortunately, Vern and I worked on the visa waiver bill, which now says if you go to that part of the world you have to get a visa to get admitted to the United States."

Another sponsored by Buchanan would require Homeland Security to vet all public records, including Facebook and other forms of social media, before allowing foreign travelers who request visas to enter the United States.

That was introduced in December, a week after the House approved a bill to deny waivers to those who have traveled to Syria, in light of the Paris attacks. The Senate has not taken up that legislation since President Barack Obama threatened to veto it.

"We have to find a way to help, be compassionate, but leave them in that part of the world," Buchanan said.

Buchanan and McCaul said a major issue with radical terrorist groups such as ISIS is they have vast influence through Internet use. That exponentially expands their ability to recruit people for their cause, particularly to young people.

"We have 200,000 ISIS tweets per day," McCaul said. "That's one of our biggest challenges."

The two didn't have advice on any new tactics local law enforcement should use to be more prepared, but simply cautioned everyday people to keep their eyes open and report it if they felt suspicious of someone.

"Hindsight is 20/20," McCaul said. "In each of these cases there was a breakdown somewhere."

Kate Irby, Herald online/political reporters, can be reached at 941-745-7055. You can follow her on Twitter @KateIrby

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 11:05 PM with the headline "At Sarasota town hall, U.S. government security officials warn people to look out for possible terrorist threats ."