The Target for Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attack in Kansas City

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Introduction
Kansas City is the biggest city in Missouri by population and area. It is considered an authentic and down-to-earth city perched at the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. The city sits on 319.03 square miles, 314.88 square miles of land, and 4.09 square miles of water. It is made up of two hundred and forty neighborhoods and furnished with numerous and unique architectural designs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2020 (2021), the city is home to 508 090 people. 59.2% white, 29.9% African Americans, 10% Hispanic, Asians are 2.5% with other races such as Somalis and Sudanese accounting for 4-5% of the population (Census U.S., 2021). With more boulevards than Paris and numerous fountains like Rome, the beautiful city was founded in the 1830s as a Missouri river port. In 1850, the town of Kansas was integrated, creating the Kansas territory, today’s Kansas City. The city proliferated in the 1880s transforming from a metropolitan area mainly known for agriculture and manufacturing to telecommunication, banking, and service industries city. It is a transportation hub with ports, railways, and roads facilitating the transportation of different products within the state (Miller, 1881).
The target for the Complex Coordinated Terrorist Attack in Kansas City
The target for the complex coordinated terrorist attack in Kansas City will be the Kansas City Pride Festival (K.C. Pride). According to the Kansas City Pride Community Alliance, the annual event will bring together LGBTQ+ community members, their families, and friends to honor and celebrate the Pride of the community. The participants will enjoy a parade, which will begin at Westport Road and Broadway Boulevard and move to Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard, to Theis Park. Also, they will get to enjoy a variety of food and drinks from food trucks, merchandise, family activities, with local artists crowning the festivities. The significant event will attract thousands of participants from all over the city and the state (Kansas City Anti-Violence Project, 2021).
The K.C. Pride will be the target, as according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are the most probable marks for hate crimes in the United States, which over the years are evolving into domestic terrorist incidents. Hate-driven terrorist attacks towards the LGBTQ community have intensified in the U.S., such as the shooting rampage in Orlando (McAleenan, 2019). In Kansas City, cases of hate group extremists have been on the rise, organized into groups, intending to eradicate this community, citing their actions as unnatural and against Christianity. These terrorists, according to Kansas City Anti-Violence Project, take advantage of large crowds and open environments to attack members of this community. With heightened social intolerance towards the Kansas LGBTQ, the public celebrations of the festival will be an opportune moment for a complex coordinated terrorist attack.
Disaster selected and the type of CBRNE used in the event
The crime-driven terrorist attack towards the K.C. Pride is a man-made disaster. A man-made disaster is a violent and dangerous crime that occurs due to human intent to push a political or social agenda. The domestic disaster will utilize high-yield explosive devices as their primary weapons (Oliver et al., 2015, pp. 32-33). According to Homeland Security, high yield explosive devices such as improvised explosive devices (IED) are materials that, upon utilization, produce large amounts of energy and generate a pressure shock, which disperses shrapnel causing injuries, trauma, massive deaths, and destruction of property (Gill et al., 2011, pp. 733-37).
With the current counter-terrorism measures that make access to authentic bomb-making materials impossible, the terrorists have adapted and now source readily available materials to make improvised explosives capable of causing maximum damage. The highly trained group in pre-attack surveillance and use of IEDs will utilize subsequent and organized attacks using pipe bombs and a truck bomb made of ammonium nitrate and oil to make them highly explosive (Gill et al., 2011, pp. 733-37). Since the festival will be a beehive of activities and security officers occupied, the pipe bombs will be prepared and housed in colorful backpacks, making them easy to blend in with the festivities. The backpacks will then be dropped strategically in different parts of the Theis Park with a timer on them, set to go off at a particular time seconds apart. Since a truck cannot enter the park, it will be strategically located near the food trucks and restaurants the Pride parade-goers will be visiting for food and refreshments.
Analysis of the risks associated with the IED bombing attack on K.C. Pride in Kansas City
The K.C. Pride festival terrorist attack using high yield explosives poses several risks to the Kansas City community. The use of ammonium nitrate improvised explosive devices detonated in a truck will result in blast waves, causing massive damage to the food trucks within the vicinity and buildings hosting the different restaurants. The blast debris will be moved tens of meters away, destroying adjacent buildings and the blast site’s infrastructure (Willis et al., 2007, pp.8-9).
Loss of lives and injuries is another risk associated with the targeted terrorist attack on the LGBTQ event. On estimate, over 80% of all bombings aim at harming a particular group of people gathered at a specific location (Willis et al., 2007, p.10). Such an attack will result in the massive fatalities of residents of Kansas City. Young people in their twenties and thirties will be the main casualties as they are the primary target for the festival. Consequently, this will rob the community of a young generation of diverse individuals.
The attack will also result in the economic disruption of the city. While the act of terrorism is targeted at the K.C. Pride festival, its occurrence poses a risk in the turmoil and destruction of the economic environment of Kansas City through the destruction of business premises, the transportation system, and the death and injury of workers. It will also result in the uncertainty of the Kansas City market. Financial and business markets thrive in a stable and secure environment. However, such an attack invites fear and instability as investors and financial institutions shut down, jeopardizing the city’s economic situation(Willis et al., 2007, pp. 14-15).
The disaster will affect the social life of the city. Kansas City is considered an interesting metropolitan area, boasting a relatively simple life as the living stand is low. Additionally, it has incredible entertainment ventures such as Jazz music, art museums, multiple theater companies, sports teams such as soccer, baseball, and basketball, and discovery centers. Thus, residents and visitors get to enjoy a wide array of activities. However, an attack like this will make people stay home out of fear while tourists skip the town, disrupting the social environment.
CCTA challenges when preparing for and responding to the K.C. Pride festival terrorist attack
One of the challenges in responding to the CCTA is operational coordination. According to the FEMA Document, the complexity of a terrorist attack necessitates an integrated and coordinated response from the response team (Oliver et al., 2015, pp. 163-64). Kansas City’s terrorist response team comprises federal, state, and city officers, including FBI agents, local police, state officers, and city authorities, who are the primary response team when a terrorist attack occurs. While these officers are supposed to wor...