One of the nation’s leading retail companies said Monday that despite a threat issued by a Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group, its malls will continue to operate as normal including here in San Diego County.
The Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group al Shabab released a video Saturday calling for attacks on shopping malls in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., echoing the group's 2013 attack on a Kenyan mall that killed more than 60 people, NBC News reported Sunday.
The video mentions Minnesota’s Mall of America specifically, NBC News reports.
Westfield Corporation, which manages 38 shopping centers in the U.S. and three in Europe, said there was no evidence of an imminent threat.
“Westfield Corporation's policy is to not publicly discuss security procedures, however our heads of security in the US and UK continue to coordinate their activities with police and government agencies,” the company said in a written statement.
The company manages six shopping malls in San Diego County including Horton Plaza, Mission Valley, North County, UTC, Plaza Bonita and Plaza Camino Real.
A spokesman for the National Security Council said the FBI and Department of Homeland Security have been working in recent months with mall operators to prevent such attacks.
