American travelers and U.S. citizens across the globe have been warned to “exercise increased caution” in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s military strikes against Iran’s nuclear program on Saturday. U.S. officials have warned of potential “demonstrations” as tension continues to escalate between Iran, Israel, and the United States.
On Sunday, the U.S. State Department released an alert, saying, “The conflict between Israel and Iran has resulted in disruptions to travel and periodic closure of airspace across the Middle East. There is the potential for demonstrations against U.S. citizens and interests abroad. The Department of State advises U.S. citizens worldwide to exercise increased caution.”
Robert McDonald, a former Secret Service agent, told Fox News that American travelers need to have an escape plan in case there is an attack at travel hubs, such as airports, train stations, and bus stations.
“There are those type of areas where people are coming and going. People are transient. Lots of people go there every day,” McDonald told Fox News. “Anything can happen at any time. Again, you’ve just got to be able to be cognizant of your surroundings, be situationally aware and be able to get yourself out of a situation if something was to happen.”
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McDonald added, “We don’t wish anything to happen, but you just got to be able to get yourself out of a particular zone relatively quick.”
McDonald told Fox News that Americans can apply the same principle to any crowded space and be “situationally aware” of anything that may be “out of place.”
“For example, if you go to a mall or Times Square and you see a backpack lying on the corner with nobody around it, or it hasn’t moved in a while, you might want to report that,” McDonald said.
“If there are particular cars in and around your neighborhood that are not normally there, it could be nothing,” McDonald added. “It could be a visitor to your neighbor, but it could be something out of the ordinary that you would want to potentially report.”
McDonald explained that law enforcement officials want to be notified regarding suspicious activity, even if the suspicious activity does not lead to the discovery of a threat.
“You may be the only person that’s noticing that something is out of the ordinary, and we have a responsibility to pass that information forward to authorities,” McDonald told Fox News. “Let them come and decide that the issue is a non-issue, right.”
