644. Around the clock, officers sit in two NYPD cars at each end of the Brooklyn Bridge. Said one officer, "Nobody is going to blow up this bridge. This is America's bridge. We watch it like a hawk." About 3 o'clock one July morning, security cameras recorded five people walking on the footpath. Then all five disappeared from view. They climbed to the top of both 276‐foot‐tall towers. Using tin pans, they covered the lights that shone on both U.S. flags. They took down both big flags. They hung up two bleached white flags about the same size. They walked off the bridge before 4 a.m. Nobody noticed the white flags for several hours. On Channel 7 news that morning, a police spokesman said, "We don't know what the white flags mean." Elmer yelled at the TV, "They mean you guys were asleep! They mean terrorists can strike us anytime, anywhere!" 4.6