Bar Owner Says Customers Issued Warning Before Attacks
Businessman Says Three Men Said America Would See 'Bloodshed'
POSTED: 6:59 p.m. EDT September 13, 2001
UPDATED: 7:29 p.m. EDT September 14, 2001
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A Daytona Beach strip club owner said he believes the suspects of Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon issued a warning and left a calling card at his business on Monday night.
"When I actually saw the television and then realized what had transpired the night before, I was like, 'Oh my God,'" bar owner John Kap said.
Kap believes that three men who had been drinking in his bar told him Monday night that the attacks would happen.
"This guy made this bold, bold statement of saying, 'Hey, America's going to see bloodshed tomorrow,' and within 10 hours, you're seeing planes crashing into the Trade Center, a plane crashing into the Pentagon," Kap said. "We didn't think anything of it until the next day, but then the next day, it came down on us like a ton of bricks."
Kap said that when he saw reports that the terrorists may be linked to Daytona, he said that he called the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"We told them that we had three gentlemen of Middle Eastern descent (that) had made these comments," Kap said. "We have their driver's licenses, we have their credit cards, and then also a Koran was left here."
Kap said that the FBI told him that the information he had provided was some of the strongest leads that the agency had received.
Kap said that he has not heard anything else from the FBI since being questioned on Wednesday. He told Eyewitness News' Jennifer Waugh that he believes that the men were involved in the attacks.
"For someone to make a statement like that, I would say how could you not be," Kap said. "You would think someone would have to have some kind of prior knowledge to make a statement like that. That 'America's going to see blood tomorrow.'" The person was very adamant in that statement. He wouldn't say, 'Well, wait in the coming weeks or wait next year.' 'Wait till tomorrow, America is going to see blood.'
Kap said that the FBI instructed him not to release specific information about the three men.
The agency did allow him to tell the media that the men's identification indicated that they are from central Florida.
Copyright 2003 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
"When I actually saw the television and then realized what had transpired the night before, I was like, 'Oh my God,'" bar owner John Kap said.
Kap believes that three men who had been drinking in his bar told him Monday night that the attacks would happen.
"This guy made this bold, bold statement of saying, 'Hey, America's going to see bloodshed tomorrow,' and within 10 hours, you're seeing planes crashing into the Trade Center, a plane crashing into the Pentagon," Kap said. "We didn't think anything of it until the next day, but then the next day, it came down on us like a ton of bricks."
Kap said that when he saw reports that the terrorists may be linked to Daytona, he said that he called the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"We told them that we had three gentlemen of Middle Eastern descent (that) had made these comments," Kap said. "We have their driver's licenses, we have their credit cards, and then also a Koran was left here."
Kap said that the FBI told him that the information he had provided was some of the strongest leads that the agency had received.
Kap said that he has not heard anything else from the FBI since being questioned on Wednesday. He told Eyewitness News' Jennifer Waugh that he believes that the men were involved in the attacks.
"For someone to make a statement like that, I would say how could you not be," Kap said. "You would think someone would have to have some kind of prior knowledge to make a statement like that. That 'America's going to see blood tomorrow.'" The person was very adamant in that statement. He wouldn't say, 'Well, wait in the coming weeks or wait next year.' 'Wait till tomorrow, America is going to see blood.'
Kap said that the FBI instructed him not to release specific information about the three men.
The agency did allow him to tell the media that the men's identification indicated that they are from central Florida.
Copyright 2003 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
