ATLANTA — A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bomb technician said he is not aware of any explosive devices discovered during the FIFA World Cup festivities in Atlanta, but dozens of them are there to make sure things stay safe.
Sometimes their job is blowing stuff up they recover from bad guys, but particularly during the World Cup festivities in Atlanta, the ATF specialists’ jobs are to prevent stuff from blowing up.
Bomb tech Brian Queener said it is their duty to keep fans and players safe while they’re here.
Bomb tech Joel Arnwine demonstrated the bomb robot for Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne.
ATF explosives specialist James Nash said he hopes he doesn’t have to do one of his main jobs while FIFA festivities are underway, post-blast investigation, but they also do threat assessments.
“We will work with local venues to see if there’s any locations that need to be swept. If they have requests for sweeps, we will do that. In this case, we are working with the motorcades to sweep those with the canines and the bomb techs, as well as venue specifics for the players where they’re going to be,” he said.
In all, dozens of bomb specialists are in town for the global event. ATF Assistant Special Agent In Charge Ryan Todd said they were asked to help by Atlanta Police.
GBI bomb specialists are also covering some key venues. It has 25 bomb techs rotating in and out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the fan festival at Centennial Olympic Park and the Georgia World Congress Center.
Arnwine says he and Queener worked a call last week where someone dropped off a box in a hotel lobby and left it unattended. It turned out to be just clothes, but the hotel did the right thing by calling it in.
“It’s best if somebody sees something that’s out of place if they report that,” Queener said.
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