Islamic terrorist group ISIS threatened Washington D.C. in a video released Monday morning; three days after a massacre in Paris, which they took credit for, left at least 129 people dead.
The footage, uploaded to a website used by the Islamic State, warns countries participating in air strikes against Syria that attacks in France were just the beginning.
"We say to the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day, God willing, like France's and by God, as we struck France in the center of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its center in Washington," a man sporting fatigues and a turban said.
Landmark cities around the United States increased security over the weekend, including Boston and New York City where extra guards were stationed in front of French consulates.
Police in Times Square gripped assault rifles, many deployed as part of the NYPD's "Critical Response Command" unit, and officials in Los Angeles beef up patrols around Saturday night's star-studded Governors Awards in Hollywood despite no known threats against the city. Midwestern cities weren't verbally targeted and didn't see a need for extraordinary precautions.
Following Monday's threat, police in the nation's capital increased patrols and expanded random explosive screening throughout the city's Metro system, but that may not be enough to calm fears of an impending attack.
"While we take all threats seriously, we do not have specific credible information of an attack on the U.S. homeland," a Department of Homeland Security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The Chicago Council of Foreign Affairs recently released "America Divided: Political Partisanship and US Foreign Policy," a report on Americans' views on foreign policy, specifically on extremists groups and the United States' role as a world leader.
"Reflecting these heightened fears, Americans rate two related threats-a major terrorist attack in the United States by violent Islamic extremist groups and international terrorism-as the most critical facing the country," the report read. "The American public backs a range of military and nonmilitary options to address these threats, and primary candidates from both parties seem to favor continued military action against ISIS and its affiliates in Iraq and Syria."
Researchers emphasize divided opinion among political party lines, but find common ground - 55 percent of those surveyed - in viewing Islamic fundamentalism as the country's biggest threat. Democrats and Republicans alike support forceful combat tactics, only they prefer low-risk attempts via air or assassination over sending additional ground troops.
Fears of a Paris-like attack in the U.S. coupled with growing anti-Muslim slander following Friday's massacre may have swayed public opinion. Republican presidential hopefuls are calling for President Obama to take action. Dozens of state governors cited security concerns in refusing admittance for thousands of Syrian refugees, some vowing to use all lawful means to prevent them from settling.
This, despite not having a lawful right to dictate foreign policy.
"When individuals say that we should have a religious test and that only Christians, proven Christians, should be admitted, that's offensive and contrary to American values," Obama said on Tuesday, speaking to reporters after meeting with the president of the Philippines.
"I cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for ISIL than some of the rhetoric that has been coming out of here during the course of this debate."
Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980 as a reprieve for refugees escaping persecution in their home nation. More than that, it give the executive branch more reach in immigration matters.
One of the bigger concerns governors have in accepting refugees is in properly screening them. Each applicant undergoes a security check, a medical screening, an in-person interview with DHS officials; a process that can take years to complete.
As Mark Krikorian, executive director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies, told the L.A. Times, there is no credible way of screening each incoming Syrian. "There is no way to know who these people are," he said. "What are we going to do, call the Damascus police department?"
All of the Paris attackers have been identified as either French or Belgian nationals, though some reportedly spent time in Syria. Regardless of their nationality, or that of a fugitive ninth suspect, their actions have signaled a shift in how Americans perceive U.S. foreign policy.