BOSTON (WHDH) - More than 200 government employees in Massachusetts have reportedly been added to a hit list compiled by a cyber affiliate of ISIS.
According to State Police, the Massachusetts list was one of three lists of government employees posted on Sunday by ISIS affiliate.
The other two lists had the names of citizens from Rhode Island and Chicago.
Police said the lists were accompanied by images with text indicating a coming threat to the two states and the city.
The lists appear to have been drawn from publicly available sites and the Massachusetts list has predominately work addresses and phone numbers next to the names.
Many of the employees work in some sort of fiscal or budgetary capacity.
State Police said at this time there is no information to suggest any immediate threat to Massachusetts citizens.
If deemed necessary, federal officials will contact the people whose names are on the list.
The FBI released a statement Monday:
While our standard practice is to decline comment on specific operational and investigative matters, the FBI routinely notifies individuals and organizations of potential threat information collected during the course of an investigation. We perform these notifications so potential victims are aware of possible threats and take appropriate steps. Those measures may include paying close attention to your surroundings at all times, protecting personally identifiable information, and immediately calling the local authorities if you observe something suspicious. The FBI will continue to work closely with federal, state, and local partners to keep the public informed of potential threats.
The Massachusetts Human Service Workers Union, SEIU Local 509, released the following statement regarding the hit list:
While details remain scarce, front-line human service workers and educators are understandably concerned by the news that hundreds of public servants have been named on what appears to be a terrorist list. Until the named individuals are notified, state workers will no doubt worry for our own safety and the safety of the populations we serve. We will continue to work with the Baker Administration and law enforcement to ensure consistent and effective security measures are employed in all state offices.
Another local union, AFSCME Council 93, released this statement:
Despite assurances that this is not a credible threat, reports of this list is troubling to our union and must be quite unnerving to the individuals named on the list. We have every expectation that Governor Baker will notify employees who are named and we will work with any of our members who may be affected to ensure that any concerns and questions they have will be addressed.
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