More Than 300 State Employees on ISIS Affiliate’s Hit-List

Photo via iStock.com / mizoula

More than 300 state employees in Massachusetts were named as targets on an ISIS affiliate’s hit-list, state and federal authorities say.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security tipped off the Commonwealth Fusion Center about a list of work addresses and phone numbers posted online by the United Cyber Caliphate, a cyber affiliate of ISIS, state police spokesman David Procopio told the Herald. Many of whom included on the list work in fiscal and budgetary positions.

The United Cyber Caliphate also posted lists of government employees in Rhode Island and Chicago, authorities say.

“The posted lists were 
accompanied by images with text indicating a coming threat to the two states and that city,” Procopio said in a statement. “The inference is obviously a call for extremists and terrorists to commit violent acts against government employees…At this time we have no intelligence suggesting any immediate threat to Massachusetts citizens in response to this list or for any other reason.”

Elizabeth Guyton, spokesperson for Gov. Charlie Baker, said the office is “actively working” with the FBI, Joint Terrorism Task Force, and state officials to monitor the situation.

“The safety of our employees is paramount and the administration will take any and all steps necessary to cooperate with federal officials and keep our public servants safe,” Guyton said in a statement. “At this time, there is no credible threat verified and we will remain in constant contact as this investigation unfolds.”

Procopio told the Herald that these lists, cobbled together from publicly available information, are seen with some degree of frequency in intelligence circles, and that state police have yet to see individuals included on previous lists actively targeted.