New York – Media: Police Seek Five Young Adults In Brooklyn Bridge Flag Case

New York – New York police are looking for five young adults in connection with the mysterious white flags that fluttered atop the Brooklyn Bridge on Tuesday morning, baffling onlookers below, local media reported on Thursday.

The New York Daily News reported that officers were searching for a skateboarder and four others who were either in their late teens or early 20s. The paper added that authorities had been unable to use facial recognition software on security footage gathered from the scene.

Reuters could not immediately verify the reports, as representatives for the New York Police Department declined to comment on the investigation.

Two U.S. flags usually decorate the towers of the landmark structure, which opened in 1883, but on Tuesday, stark white flags flew instead, police said. The banners appeared to be bleached American flags.

Security footage showed several people crossing the bridge in the early morning hours. A few minutes later, the light illuminating the flag on the bridge’s Brooklyn tower flickered and went out, the NYPD deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, John Miller, told a news conference earlier this week.

The towers’ security gates were still locked, suggesting the perpetrators were agile and may have construction experience, Miller said.

He said the bridge was seen as a prime target for acts of terrorism and was closely monitored by police. Police are looking at possibly increasing the number of patrols and cameras on the bridge.

In April, police arrested Brendan Fagan, a street artist who goes by the alias of Judith Supine, after he installed artwork on the Queensboro Bridge farther up the East River at night.