D.C. Police Worried That Fear of Terrorism Could Inspire More Terrorism
A recently disclosed bulletin from October 2023 shows the Inception-like nature of national security politics.
The terrorist threat wasn't real, police determined. But the rumors about the terrorist threat could cause terrorism "from those seeking to 'counterattack,'" they warned. A homeland security bulletin, recently obtained by Reason, sheds new light on the panic and confusion that U.S. authorities dealt with in October 2023.
The bulletin demonstrates that national security is a bit like the movie Inception. There's always one more layer. But it's also an important acknowledgment, from within the government, that panic itself can be the enemy. While "abundance of caution" has been the motto of U.S. counterterrorism for over two decades, the bulletin acknowledges that being too credulous about terrorist threats can itself cause problems.
American media was falsely reporting that Hamas had threatened to attack American soil on October 13, 2023, a so-called "day of jihad." The rumor was based on muddled, secondhand coverage of an interview where former Hamas Chairman Khaled Meshaal called for protests in the countries bordering Israel, soon after Hamas' massive October 7 attacks on Israel. Officials across the United States scrambled to deal with the public's fears, often feeding right into them.
"We do not have any intelligence to suggest a threat to the District of Columbia associated with the misinterpretation of this address; however, we have observed online social media postings indicating that individuals may seek to violently 'counteract' these perceived attacks, further elevating the threat environment and potential for interpersonal clashes between opposing groups at First Amendment Protected events associated with the ongoing Israel–Hamas War," the D.C. Fusion Center wrote in an October 12 bulletin.
The bulletin added that there have been "threatening social media posts…focused on targeting members of the Palestinian or broader Islamic communities from those seeking to 'counterattack' the Day of Jihad."
Sadly, the Fusion Center's prediction came true elsewhere in the country. Wadea Al-Fayoume, a 4-year-old Palestinian-American boy in Illinois, was stabbed to death by his vigilante landlord, Joseph Czuba, who believed that he was fighting against the "day of jihad." Czuba was convicted of murder and hate crimes in May 2025.
Ironically, the panicked news coverage brought Meshaal's statement—which was addressed to Arab audiences and went mostly unnoticed in Arabic-language media—to an audience that would never have seen it otherwise. The D.C. Fusion Center warned that that "day of jihad" news might actually move Hamas supporters to attack supporters of Israel or Jewish institutions. Fortunately, that prediction did not come true.
Fusion centers are offices overseen by the Department of Homeland Security for sharing counterterrorism information between federal and local law enforcement agencies. As part of an investigation into the panic published last year, Reason sent Freedom of Information Act requests to fusion centers across the country. The D.C. Fusion Center finally responded to its request this week.
Although some fusion centers have historically contributed to spreading fear and panicked misinformation, other fusion centers became a level-headed voice in October 2023. Fusion centers in Idaho, North Dakota, and California reassured officials that there were no credible threats related to the "day of jihad." New Jersey's fusion center hosted a briefing by the FBI, reminding police to respect citizens' First Amendment right to protest.
The D.C. Fusion Center seemed most worried about the potential for "interpersonal clashes" at pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protests. But rather than either an organized call for attacks or protest-related fights, the worst spillover of Israeli-Palestinian violence on American soil has come from lone wolf attacks, often by attackers motivated by a combination of vengeance and delusion.
In November 2023, Vermont man Jason Eaton allegedly shot and wounded three Palestinian Americans who were wearing keffiyehs and walking down the street. Eaton claims he was working for the CIA, and Eaton's lawyers claim he is mentally ill. In February 2025, Florida man Mordechai Brafman allegedly shot and wounded two men he thought were Palestinians, but turned out to be Israeli tourists. His lawyers also claim he was having a "severe mental health emergency."
In April 2025, Pennsylvania man Cody Allen Balmer allegedly tried to burn down the house of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro because of "what he wants to do to Palestinian people." Balmer denied having a mental illness in court, but his family tried to have him involuntarily hospitalized a few days before the incident.
In May 2025, Chicago man Elias Rodriguez allegedly shot and killed two Israeli embassy staff in what appeared to be a targeted assassination in Washington, D.C. He had a photo of Al-Fayoume in his apartment window. Finally, in June 2025, Egyptian immigrant Mohamed Sabry Soliman allegedly shouted "free Palestine" and threw a firebomb at a group of Colorado joggers raising awareness for Israeli hostages, killing one of them.
Whether and how those attacks could have been prevented is up for debate. The Trump administration, for example, blamed the last two attacks on "reckless and irresponsible reporting" about the war in Gaza. (The reporting later turned out to be true.) But one thing is clear: Telling the public to be afraid all the time has its own dangerous consequences.
