The ISIS attacks on Paris on November 13, 2015, caused some old stories about an ISIS 'hit list' of U.S. cities -- many of them small towns -- to be reposted on Facebook, a trend detected on November 15 by Lead Stories' Trendolizer.
These stories are based on real information confirmed by the U.S. Defense Department and the White House as reported in the New York Times on March 21, 2015.
"In a new online threat to American military personnel, the Islamic State has called on its members and sympathizers in the United States to kill 100 service members whose names, photos and purported addresses it posted on a website," the Times reported. "The group said that the personnel had participated in efforts to defeat it in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere."
The newspaper's report included a quote from the ISIS "Hacking Division" web post: "With the huge amount of data we have from various different servers and databases, we have decided to leak 100 addresses so that our brothers in America can deal with you. And now we have made it easy for you by giving you addresses, all you need to do is take the final step, so what are you waiting for?"
ISIS hackers appear to have scoured social networks for postings by military public relations and military personnel, according to government officials quoted in several reports.
Military investigators visited the families of at least some of those soldiers, sailors and airmen on the ISIS hit list, according to a Fox News report that quoted a "military spouse" on March 23, 2015.
Fox Reported: "The military spouse, who was willing to discuss details on the condition of anonymity because she says her family fears for their safety, said the information posted by ISIS sympathizers is accurate -- and she knows several other families identified on the web by the terror group."
"We had a call from an NCIS agent on Saturday who said we were on the 'ISIS kill list,'" the military spouse told Fox News. "The agent wanted to verify our name and address as accurate. He said the threat should be considered. We need to be vigilant, but there was no guidance on what to do and no meeting in person to do a security assessment of our home."
Chattanooga, Tennessee, was not on the ISIS "hit list." In July, 2015, a shooter killed five U.S. military personnel at recruiting stations in the southern city. It prompted the Pentagon to temporarily order recruiters around the USA to take off their uniforms and wear casual civilian clothes while on duty, as Lead Stories confirmed in July.
Here is the list of U.S. cities purportedly on the ISIS "hit list" that has been circulating online since March 2015.
Texas: Abilene, New Braunfels, San Antonio, Wyle, Fort Hood, Bedford, Killeen
Indiana: Michigan City, Bolivar
Michigan: Dearborn Heights, Lake Orion
Connecticut: Barkhamsted, Manchester
Nevada: Reno
Georgia: Griffin
Maryland: Upper Marlboro, Warrensburg, Lexington Park
Arizona: Phoenix
Louisiana: Shreveport, Bossier City
South Carolina: Daniel Island, Charleston
North Carolina: Fayetteville, New Bern
Virginia: Burke, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Springfield, Norfolk, Chesapeake
Colorado: Colorado Springs
California: Hanford, Solvang, San Ardo, Monterrey, Newberry Park, Carlsbad
New Mexico: Farmington
North Dakota: Minot
South Dakota: Rapid City
Florida: Merritt Island, Palm Coast, Saint John, Middleburg, Saint Augustine
Washington: Colton, Cheney, Seattle, Spokane, Anacortes
Nebraska: Bellevue
Illinois: Orland Park
Rhode Island: Newport
Idaho: Bonners Ferry
Lead Stories' scours social nets for trending content about ISIS. Type ISIS in our site search box for a whole bunch or scroll down to see the latest top content.
