New York using sand-filled trucks to protect Thanksgiving parade

Record ID: 77536

  • Title: New York using sand-filled trucks to protect Thanksgiving parade
  • Date: 24th November 2016
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 24, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SAND-FILLED TRUCKS VARIOUS OF HEAVILY-ARMED POLICE OFFICERS VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS ON BALCONY POLICE OFFICER AND CROWD POLICE VEHICLES VARIOUS OF PARADE AND CROWDS CROWD PARADE AND CROWD CROWD (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUAN-PABLO CAMACHO, VISITOR FROM CHILE, SAYING: "No, not at all, no. There's a lot of security here now. We've been here for a week and we know all the people are very chill. I'm not worried about that." LEIGH GREENE WATCHING PARADE (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEIGH GREENE, VISITOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA, SAYING: "I'm not afraid. Whatever happens, happens." TIM GIBSON WATCHING THE PARADE WITH HIS DAUGHTER BRIANNA (SOUNDBITE) (English) TIM GIBSON, VISITOR FROM MICHIGAN, SAYING: "I wanted to have her come and just enjoy the festivities, but with the climate being what it is right now, it is a little nerve-wracking. I'm getting messages from my family in Michigan saying just to be careful. Just a little bit of heightened awareness about what's going on. But overall, I'm still glad to be out here and it's really great. A nice day to be out enjoying the parade." RICH AND FAMILY (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICH, FROM NEW JERSEY, SAYING: "No, not at all, not at all. We felt really safe. Everyone is doing a great job here, the law enforcement. There is a lot of law enforcement here and security is really tight. Everybody is so friendly and nice, so it makes it easy to get around and you feel safe and secure. So this is what it's all about. You can't feel scared to come out. This is a tradition. This is all about tradition and family and no one should be scared to come out and enjoy that." VARIOUS OF PARADE CROWDS
  • Embargoed: 9th December 2016 16:41
  • Keywords: Macy's Thanksgiving parade security New York
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Living/Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA00159T21C7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:New York police used sand-filled trucks, radiation detectors, bomb-sniffing dogs and heavily armed officers on Thursday (November 24) to defend the 90th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which Islamic State has encouraged its followers to attack.
    More than 80 trucks from the Sanitation Department will be used to counter a threat by Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, which has called the parade an "excellent target."
    The group has encouraged readers of its online magazine Rumiyah to use motor vehicles to kill and injure people, similar to the way a Tunisian-born assailant killed more than 80 people at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France.
    The sand trucks weigh 16 tons (14.5 metric tons) and twice that when filled with sand, making them difficult to move even if rammed by large vehicles.
    Islamic State, which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria and seeks to inspire attacks by others abroad, claimed responsibility for the July 14 attack in Nice.
    But along the parade route in Manhattan, families were enjoying the event without fear.
    "There's a lot of security here now. We've been here for a week and we know all the people are very chill. I'm not worried about that," said Juan-Pablo Camacho, a visitor from Chile.
    Tim Gibson, watching the parade with his daughter Brianna, said, "It is a little nerve-wracking. I'm getting messages from my family in Michigan saying just to be careful. Just a little bit of heightened awareness about what's going on. But overall, I'm still glad to be out here and it's really great. A nice day to be out enjoying the parade."
    Rich brought his family from New Jersey to the parade. "You can't feel scared to come out. This is a tradition. This is all about tradition and family and no one should be scared to come out and enjoy that."
    Officials expect 3.5 million people to converge on the 2.5-mile (4-km) parade route for the annual, nationally televised ritual that initiates the holiday shopping season with giant balloons shaped like cartoon characters.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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