With the United States engaged in a war with Iran, security is expected to be as tight as ever for Sunday’s Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
The area around the theater, which sits along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, has seen barricades and fencing installed as in previous years, but when the Oscars ceremony takes place, the presence of Los Angeles Police Department personnel and federal agents participating in a multi-agency operation will be visible.
There is no specific threat against the event or Los Angeles, but federal officials have issued warnings about the transmission of a sequence of numbers in Farsi, the language spoken in Iran, that could be a signal to operatives, according to The Atlantic.
Gatherings, including high-profile events like the Academy Awards, are obvious potential targets, as are airports, houses of worship and other places where large numbers of people congregate.
“That is something that would fall within their group of targets,” global risk intelligence expert Hal Kempfer told KTLA5. “It is believed that they have target folders already ready to go should that day ever come when they get operationalized. The fear is that this day has come.”
Reports also emerged Wednesday that the FBI recently warned police departments in California that Iran could retaliate for the American attacks by launching drones at the West Coast.
A source with knowledge of the memo said the warning was issued based on intelligence received by the U.S. Coast Guard, but that it has not been deemed credible “at this time,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Beefed up security for the Academy Awards will include vehicle screenings, the deployment of bomb-sniffing dogs, pre-deployed SWAT teams, undercover local officers and federal agents and snipers on rooftops, according to KTLA5, which cited law enforcement officials.
A one-mile perimeter will be in place around the theater.