2010 Times Square car bombing attempt: Difference between revisions

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	] ] and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly were in ], to attend the 2010 ], but returned immediately to New York after they were informed of the incident. Attorney General ] called it a "terrorist act".<ref name="washingtonpost2">{{cite web\|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050400192.html?hpid=topnews \|title=U.S. citizen from Pakistan arrested in Times Square bomb case \|publisher=Washingtonpost.com \|date= \|accessdate=May 4, 2010}}</ref> White House spokesman ], similarly, said "I would say that was intended to terrorize, ~~and~~ I would say that ~~whomever~~ did that would be categorized as a terrorist."<ref name="washingtonpost2"/>		] ] and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly were in ], to attend the 2010 ], but returned immediately to New York after they were informed of the incident. Attorney General ] called it a "terrorist act".<ref name="washingtonpost2">{{cite web\|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050400192.html?hpid=topnews \|title=U.S. citizen from Pakistan arrested in Times Square bomb case \|publisher=Washingtonpost.com \|date= \|accessdate=May 4, 2010}}</ref> White House spokesman ], similarly, said "Anybody that has the type of material that they had in a car in Times Square, I would say that was intended to terrorize, absolutely. And I would say that whoever did that would be categorized as a terrorist, yes."<ref name="washingtonpost2"/><ref></ref>

	Law enforcement officials planned to review security camera footage from the area for additional information. The Pathfinder had invalid license plates that did not match its registration. The registered owner of the plates was contacted, and according to law enforcement sources does not appear to be involved in the incident.<ref name=nytimes1 />		Law enforcement officials planned to review security camera footage from the area for additional information. The Pathfinder had invalid license plates that did not match its registration. The registered owner of the plates was contacted, and according to law enforcement sources does not appear to be involved in the incident.<ref name=nytimes1 />

Revision as of 10:22, 4 May 2010

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2010 Times Square car bomb attempt
A view of Times Square after the vehicle fire was extinguished
Location	1 Astor Plaza, 1515 Broadway, Times Square, New York City, United States
Date	May 1, 2010 6:28 p.m. (UTC–04)
Attack type	Failed car bombing
Deaths	0
Injured	0

On May 1, 2010, a car bomb was discovered by a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer in Times Square, New York City. A nearby street vendor had alerted the officer to the threat when he spotted smoke coming from a vehicle. The bomb had been ignited, but did not explode, and it was successfully disarmed before causing any casualties.

On May 3, 2010, federal agents arrested Faisal Shahzad, a U.S. citizen naturalized from Pakistan. He was arrested in the New York area at an airport, allegedly trying to flee.

Incident

The suspect's vehicle entered Times Square at approximately 6:28 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (22:28 UTC) on the evening of Saturday, May 1, 2010. Two minutes later, a T-shirt vendor noticed suspicious smoke drifting from the dark blue 1993 Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle with tinted windows at the eastern corner of 1 Astor Plaza, near the entrance to the Minskoff Theatre (intersection of the West 45th Street and Broadway). He alerted a nearby NYPD police officer who then approached the Pathfinder to investigate and observed smoke coming from vents near the back seat, unidentified canisters, and the smell of gunpowder. The officer immediately called for backup, a bomb disposal team, and the New York City Fire Department.

An area stretching from 43rd Street to 49th Street on Seventh Avenue, and 45th Street from Seventh Avenue to Eighth Avenue, was quickly evacuated of all vehicle and foot traffic, including Broadway-performance attendees, and then barricaded. Several buildings near the vehicle, including the New York Marriott Marquis hotel, in front of which the Pathfinder was parked, were also evacuated.

Upon arrival, the bomb disposal team used a remote-controlled robotic device to break out a window of the vehicle and explore its contents. They found gunpowder, dozens of consumer-grade M-88 fireworks, two five-gallon cans of gasoline, three propane tanks, a metal gun case holding Template:Lb to kg of fertilizer, electrical wiring, and two clocks with batteries that apparently were fashioned as triggering devices. A bomb disposal expert with information on the contents indicated that the design of the device was more consistent with that of an incendiary device than that of a traditional bomb.

For reasons not yet known, the improvised explosive device's ignition source failed to set it off as intended. However, Mr. Kelly said the bomb: "would have caused casualties, a significant fireball."

Investigation

The NYPD Commissioner, Raymond Kelly, said the bomb components were all "locally available materials." He said police breached a gun locker found in the back of the vehicle which contained wires, firecrackers, and eight bags of non-explosive grade fertilizer.

Investigators are examining the vehicle for fibers, fingerprints, and DNA, and attempting to track down where the bomb materials were purchased. The vehicle identification number (VIN) plate from the car's dashboard had been removed, but police were able to identify the owner since the VIN was in many other locations on the vehicle. The license plates had apparently been taken from a Ford F-150 pickup truck awaiting repair at a Stratford, Connecticut, garage; E-ZPass and other camera records at toll plazas are being reviewed in an effort to identify where the vehicle entered Manhattan.

The police are looking for a white male in his forties who was seen on surveillance footage.

Kelly confirmed the possibility of lone wolf terrorism, saying: "A terrorist act doesn't necessarily have to be conducted by an organization, an individual can do it on their own." The police are also investigating whether the bomb was planted in response to a depiction of the prophet Muhammad in the episode "200" of the animated sitcom South Park, because the vehicle was parked near the offices of Viacom, the company which owns the Comedy Central channel which airs the show. Investigators are looking at similarities between the Times Square device and the two devices discovered outside London's Tiger Tiger nightclub and in Cockspur Street in the failed bombing attempt of 2007, which were believed to be linked to Iraq. New York Police Department spokesman Paul Brown said, "You can find similarities among different attacks, but there is nothing that we have at this point that has established that link." New York Mayor Bloomberg said, "So far, there is no evidence that any of this has anything to do with one of the recognized terrorist organizations."

Senior Obama administration officials said a flood of international and domestic clues suggested a plot involving more than one person.

Arrest; Faisal Shahzad

On May 3, federal authorities announced that they had identified a person of interest in the attack, and that they were looking for "a naturalized American citizen who was in Pakistan for several months and returned to the United States recently". He is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, and lived in Connecticut.

Federal agents and police arrested the person of interest, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, on May 3, 2010. Shahzad was taken into custody at John F. Kennedy International Airport, as he was on board a flight to Dubai which had left the gate and was heading towards the runway, before it was instructed to return.

Shahzad was believed to have recently bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that was found in NYC. He had paid in cash three weeks earlier for the Nissan Pathfinder that someone parked in Times Square, filled with explosives. The purchase was made through an ad on Craigslist. The vehicle was purchased for USD$1,300 (CNN listed the deal as being for $1,800) which he reportedly paid in $100 bills, at a shopping center in Connecticut.

Shahzad was expected to be transported to Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center. He will appear in Manhattan federal court on May 4 to be formally charged.

Reaction

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly were in Washington, D.C., to attend the 2010 White House Correspondents' Dinner, but returned immediately to New York after they were informed of the incident. Attorney General Eric Holder called it a "terrorist act". White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, similarly, said "Anybody that has the type of material that they had in a car in Times Square, I would say that was intended to terrorize, absolutely. And I would say that whoever did that would be categorized as a terrorist, yes."

Law enforcement officials planned to review security camera footage from the area for additional information. The Pathfinder had invalid license plates that did not match its registration. The registered owner of the plates was contacted, and according to law enforcement sources does not appear to be involved in the incident.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the incident, and promised federal assistance in the investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Joint Terrorism Task Force also provided assistance to the NYPD.

Claims of responsibility

According to a report by the Associated Press, a Pakistani Taliban group claimed responsibility for an attack against the United States in a video posted on YouTube, saying the attack was revenge for the killing of Baitullah Mehsud and the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq — Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri — as well as for general American "interference and terrorism in Muslim Countries, especially in Pakistan." However, "The tape makes no specific reference to the attack; it does not mention that it was a car bomb or that it took place in New York City". According to the New York Times and the New York Daily News, the same group has made far-fetched, false claims for other attacks in the past. Several other groups have claimed responsibility, with no evidence or verified data. Al Jazeera said Pakistani Taliban sources denied being involved.