The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan is considered a potential target for foreign and international terror groups, according to a joint threat assessment by the FBI and the New York Police Department, reported by ABC News on Thursday.
The threats facing the United States’s largest parade arise from lone offenders and small groups looking to commit acts of violence. More than 2 million people are expected to attend this year’s parade, which features 10,000 participants.
While discussions about the United States’s gun laws are frequent, officials believe that a ramming attack is the most likely method of terrorism, as this tactic has become increasingly common among threat actors.
The assessment states that the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will present a range of potential soft targets for an attack, with congested areas where the largest crowds gather—especially designated viewing areas—being particularly vulnerable to mass casualty incidents.
Last year, the parade was briefly disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters. A group of about 20 individuals halted the parade for a few minutes by lining up across Sixth Avenue. Many of the protesters wore shirts that read “Stop the Genocide” and unfurled a banner that said “Free Palestine,” “Land Back,” and “Genocide Then, Genocide Now.”
