MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Hundreds of families watched the skies as fireworks lit up the Memphis skyline this Independence Day.
Law enforcement agencies across the country were on heightened alert after a threat warning from Homeland Security this holiday.
Carmen Jones with the Mud Island River Park said, “We do have security on staff the whole event, but it’s safe down here. We have never had a problem.”
Despite a nationwide warning about an increased threat, possibly centered around ISIS, 4th of July event organizers and some Memphians said they were not worried.
Debra Spencer said, “We’re in a threat every day. We wake up to threats every day.”
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Brian Porter said, “We’re doing our standard operations. So, we tend not to like to disclose our operable tempos and where we’re going to be, or who we’re going to be visiting with.”
Porter also said the Coast Guard is taking the threat seriously, and it shouldn’t stop people from having fun and enjoying the fireworks on Mud Island.