The Wire - October 6, 2025

//The Wire//2300Z October 6, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: MAN ARRESTED WITH MOLOTOV OUTSIDE DC CATHEDRAL. AIRSPACE CONCERNS REMAIN THROUGHOUT EUROPE AS TENSIONS REMAIN HIGH.//

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-International Events-

Europe: Over the weekend, airspace closures were reported in Lithuania as suspected drones were detected. Vilnius Airport was shut down for several hours while the airspace incursion was investigated. After some time, what was initially reported as drones turned out to be a local custom that took the form of roughly 25x helium balloons smuggling cigarettes. Two of these balloons managed to fly over the airport, prompting the airspace closures.

Analyst Comment: This is a fairly standard Saturday night in Lithuania. Almost 1,000 cigarette smuggling balloons were intercepted in Lithuania over the past year, with smugglers launching the balloons from Belarus where cigarettes are incredibly cheap. This practice is happening so often that the thousand balloons that are caught every year are the ones that get away; most balloons are successfully intercepted by smugglers (who have a GPS tracker on the balloons) once they land in Lithuania.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - Yesterday morning a man was arrested during an incident at St. Matthew's Cathedral. Louis Geri was initially approached by police after setting up a camping tent on the front steps of the church before Mass. However, after a hostile interaction, a search revealed that he was in possession of a pre-made Molotov incendiary device, prompting his arrest. Geri was known to police and had previously been banned from the site for unknown reasons.

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Analyst Comments: This general area is known for vagrancy, however this individual lived in New Jersey. Right now it's not clear as to if the individual was attempting to conduct an attack at the church, or if he simply had explosives/incendiaries in his possession (as is becoming increasingly popular). Right now it looks like a crazy guy wanted to cause a scene at the Church, as pitching a tent right on the front steps is not normally an effective opening phase of a terror attack.

Initially, there were concerns that the attacker was attempting to target churchgoers during Mass that Sunday morning. However, security practices were heightened due to the church celebrating Red Mass yesterday, a special Mass dedicated to pray for the Supreme Court Justices. This Mass is held at this Church once per year, usually on the Sunday before the court calendar begins. There aren't usually any Justices in attendance (for obvious reasons), but one or two have attended in the past. As such, this specific church usually has an increased security posture on this day, just in case an attacker mistakenly thinks that a Supreme Court Justice might turn up. If he did not know about the Red Mass specifically (as it's not something that's particularly widely known outside the Church), he was still up to no good by bringing explosives to the front steps of a church. As expected, no word yet on if any federal terrorism charges will be brought, however FBI investigators were observed taking photos of the scene.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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