Terrorism threat looms over local outdoor events

Multiple large-scale events will soon attract hundreds of thousands of people to the bay area.

Federal agencies have expressed concern over copycat attacks after a terrorist rammed his truck into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revelers in New Orleans, leaving 14 dead and 30 wounded. St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said he has since strengthened security protocols.

The city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade – one of the nation’s largest – is Jan. 20, less than three weeks after the terror attack in New Orleans. The four-day Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg begins Feb. 28 and annually brings over 200,000 people to the downtown waterfront.

“Every time we have an event, it worries me,” Holloway told the Catalyst. “Now, with that (terrorist attack) happening, you have to think about what else somebody is planning.”

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security and U.S. National Counterterrorism Center sent a Jan. 2 memo to local law enforcement agencies nationwide. It said federal officials “are concerned about possible copycat or retaliatory attacks” following the deadly truck-ramming rampage.

The FBI issued the bulletin a day after it said Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. Army veteran, was “100% inspired” by the Islamic State terrorist network to drive a rented pickup into celebratory crowds. Officials wrote that similar attacks “are likely to remain attractive for aspiring assailants, given vehicles’ ease of acquisition and the low threshold necessary to conduct an attack.”

The FBI announced that Jabbar visited Tampa twice in the months preceding his attack, although officials have not established a motive.

New Orleans began replacing old concrete bollards used to block vehicles in November 2024; law enforcement did not anticipate an attacker would drive through a sidewalk to avoid a police car acting as a temporary barrier. In 2013, the al-Qaida terrorist group wrote that allies should use trucks as a “mowing machine, not to mow grass but to mow down the enemies of Allah.”

Holloway said the goal is to stay one step ahead of bad actors. Security planning for large-scale events begins a year prior with an after-action assessment.

“We look at what we did good and what we could do better,” Holloway said. “And now we’re saying, ‘Where are some of the soft things we need to work on?’

“We’ve worked on some of that already, and we’re also starting to look at all of the events we have and see how we can harden the inner and outer perimeters.”

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg annually attracts over 200,000 people to the downtown waterfront. Photo by Mark Parker.

While the St. Petersburg Police Department does not release on-duty officer numbers, the agency takes an all-hands-on-deck approach to safeguarding outdoor events like St. Pete Pride. Myriad plain-clothes detectives will join uniformed officers conducting foot patrols.

Law enforcement officials coordinate responses from a mobile command center. Marine units monitor the bay, and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office air support remains ready to assist.

Officers utilized surveillance equipment and license plate readers during last year’s Pride festivities. Holloway stressed that local law enforcement agencies must remain vigilant.

“There’s probably someone sitting at home trying to come up with a plan, and we have to sit here and play out all the what-ifs – all the time,” he said.

Holloway said he has added officers and will implement additional concrete barriers. Those will replace metal bike rack-style blockades that likely would not stop a vehicle.

Federal agencies continuously share new information with SPPD leadership, and Holloway said he “can’t thank them enough.” Multiple detectives participate in a national Joint Terrorism Task Force that provides critical insight.

The SPPD will send marine units to help patrol the massive Gasparilla Pirate Fest from the water Jan. 25.

Like his counterparts across the bay, Holloway urges attendees to remain mindful of their surroundings. “If you see something suspicious – call it in,” he pleaded.

“I don’t want us to stop having outdoor events because if you do that, you’re telling the bad person they won,” Holloway said. “Then they’re going to move on to something else. So, I hope it doesn’t put a damper on things.”