Video: ISIS Could Be In Florida Now


Many Floridians have come to the realization that if an ISIS inspired attack can happen in San Bernardino, California then in certainly can happen here. Florida does has a track record in the terrorist training business.

Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers lived and trained in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast. Meanwhile, the first American suicide bomber in Syria was from Vero Beach.

A recent local story that aired on WPEC TV  CBS 12 in West Palm Beach found that according to the United States National Security officials ISIS are in Florida now. The government officials noted that they at present are currently looking into over 900 active investigations on possible ISIS cells in the United States and a number of those probes are going on in Florida.

“They are amongst us. Believe me, they are amongst us here in South Florida,” Chad Jenkins told CBS12.

According to Jenkins, who is a former counterterrorism agent with the FBI and a former U.S. Army Ranger who served in Iraq, there is a very strong possibility that ISIS has some Florida roots.

Jenkins said, “Look at it, where are they not? We don’t know where they are. That’s the problem. They choose Florida because of the weather and the large international population.”

In his conversation with CBS 12 in West Palm Beach, Jenkins was quick to point out that a major reason that ISIS and their supporters in the United States are so good at hiding is because so much of the terrorists’ communications are done by encrypted social media apps.

At the moment from Pensacola to Key West detectives and agents from a number of national agencies are doing all they can to separate the idle chatter from a real threat.

As you might imagine since what went on in San Bernardino all of the Homeland Security offices in the state of Florida have stepped up their monitoring of the people and groups they have been focusing on over the last few months.

So, the state of Florida is on high alert on as the United States continues to battle ISIS.

Jim Williams is the Washington Bureau Chief, Digital Director as well as the Director of Special Projects for Genesis Communications. He is starting his third year as part of the team. This is Williams 40th year in the media business, and in that time he has served in a number of capacities. He is a seven time Emmy Award winning television producer, director, writer and executive. He has developed four regional sports networks, directed over 2,000 live sporting events including basketball, football, baseball hockey, soccer and even polo to name a few sports. Major events include three Olympic Games, two World Cups, two World Series, six NBA Playoffs, four Stanley Cup Playoffs, four NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship Tournaments (March Madness), two Super Bowl and over a dozen college bowl games. On the entertainment side Williams was involved s and directed over 500 concerts for Showtime, Pay Per View and MTV Networks.