The New York police said it met with controversial blogger Pamela Geller as part of its broadening investigation into threats issued against the activist blogger by the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, reported AP.
Stephen Davis, spokesperson for the New York Police Department (NYPD), said the police is looking at the threat seriously and added that members of the NYPD counterterrorism and intelligence bureaus discussed the matter with Geller. Davis added that the police would conduct a "comprehensive threat assessment" to determine if Geller needs police protection.
Davis was quoted as saying by the New York Daily News, "We have been in touch with Pamela Geller. People known to be associated with Isis have posted a direct threat to her. To whatever extent she will be in New York City, we will do a comprehensive threat assessment to determine what, if any, measures, to take."
The police was reacting to a message posted by suspected ISIS militants on JustPasteIt that said it was sending "all our Lions to achieve her slaughter."
The message further reads, "Our aim was the khanzeer (swine) Pamela Geller and to show her that we don't care what land she hides in or what sky shields her. The attack by the Islamic State in America is only the beginning of our efforts to establish a wiliyah in the heart of our enemy." The Arabic word "wilayah" means authority or governance.
Davis did not provide specifics about the threat and what kind of police protection the NYPD will provide Geller against the ISIS threat.
Geller, a known anti-Islam activist, drew the ire of the hardline Islamic group after she held an even in Texas last weekend that attracted over 200 people. The "free speech" event encourages people to draw cartoons mocking Islam, said Chron.com.
But the Texas event also generated the attention of sympathizers of the Muslim militant group as two men opened fire outside the venue house that injured a security guard. The quick response of the police prevented the escalation of the alleged terrorist attack.
The two Islamic militants later died after exchanging gunfires with the police.
An unrepentant Geller told Breitbart that she plans to hold another free speech event in the coming days in defiance to the Islamists. Breitbart is a conservative web site where Geller regularly contributes articles. She posted on her blog after the shooting, "This is a war. This is war on free speech. Are we going to surrender to these monsters?"
According to IBTimes, Geller is the president of "The American Freedom Defence Initiative", which organized last week's "Draw Mohammed" event in Garland, Texas. She is also involved in a group called "Stop Islamization of America" which believes that Muslims are conspiring to replace the U.S. Constitution with the Quran.
She also believes that Muslims across the globe ultimately plan to install Islam and its religious laws in national governments, kill the Jews and all non-Muslims.
