Organizers of a major cheerleading competition taking place at West Edmonton Mall said that despite an increase in security there was nothing different about this year’s event.
“The mall beefed up its security. Edmonton Police sent in more security. We have had tons of police officers here, plainclothes officers as well as people in uniform,” Jennifer Guiney said.
Guiney, secretary for the Alberta Cheerleading Association (ACA), confirmed that a total of 35 groups pulled out of the competition after a Somali terror group named the mall as a possible terrorist target.
“Their main concern was safety, of course. It was a combination of parents, gym owners, school boards and insurance companies. We respect their decision. The safety of athletes is priority.”
In February the group al- Shabaab, known for their attack on a Kenyan mall, issued a video that called for attacks against malls around the world.
“If just a handful of mujahedeen fighters could bring Kenya to a complete standstill for nearly a week, then imagine what a dedicated mujahedeen in the West could do to the American- or Jewish-owned shopping centres across the world?" a man concealed by a headscarf said near the end of the video.
"What if such an attack was to occur in the Mall of America in Minnesota, or the West Edmonton Mall in Canada?"
However, many attending the event said they did not see it as a credible threat.
“We weren’t going to change our plans just because of that,” Rod Woolf said.
“You hear of threats all the time and nothing really happens over it. It is just them trying to disrupt other people’s lives.”
Lorne Walters agreed.
“They want us to be scared but you just carry on with life.”
The competition wrapped up Sunday and Guiney said it was a success with 150 teams competing.
With files from Nicole Weisberg
