2010 Times Square car bombing attempt: Difference between revisions

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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.^[1][2] The bomb had been ignited, but did not explode, and it was successfully disarmed before causing any casualties.^[1][3][4]

On May 3, 2010, federal agents arrested Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old resident of Connecticut who is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Pakistan.^[5] He was arrested at Kennedy airport as he tried to board a flight to Dubai.^[5] In a statement later that evening, Attorney General Eric Holder alleged that Shazad was the driver of the SUV that contained the car bomb, and that his intent was "to kill Americans".^[5] Shazad will be formally charged in federal court in Manhattan on May 4.^[5]

The suspect's vehicle, a dark blue 1993 Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle with dark tinted windows was seen on surveillance video entering Times Square at approximately 6:28 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, May 1, 2010. Two minutes later, a t-shirt vendor^[6][7] noticed smoke drifting from the vehicle. It was then parked on a tourist-crowded block at the eastern corner of 1 Astor Plaza, near the entrance to the Minskoff Theatre (intersection of the West 45th Street and Broadway) with its emergency flashers on.^{[8][9][10][11]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[12]

The vehicle was set ablaze, but did not detonate.^[11] 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 in the rear of the vehicle 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 alarm clocks with batteries that apparently were fashioned as triggering devices.^[13][14] 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.^[3]

For reasons not yet known, the improvised explosive device's ignition source failed to set it off as intended.^[3] However, Mr. Kelly said the bomb: "would have caused casualties, a significant fireball."^[3] Police said the bomb would likely have killed or wounded many people.^[15]

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.^[16][17]

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.^[18]

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.^[3]

Investigators also were examining international phone records showing calls "between some of the people who might be associated with this and folks overseas," according to a U.S. official.^[19] Investigators uncovered a piece of paper, fingerprints or possibly both that also indicated international ties, according to a federal official.^[19]

The police are looking for a white male in his 40s who was seen on surveillance footage, changing his shirt in an alley and looking over his shoulder near where the vehicle was parked.^[16][20][21] Investigators were also looking for another person captured on video running north on Broadway, away from the area.^[22]

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."^[16] 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.^[18][23] 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,^[23] 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."^[24]

Senior Obama administration officials said a flood of international and domestic clues suggested a plot involving more than one person.^[25] An FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force took over the investigation on May 3 as indications of a possible international connection increased.^[19]

On May 3, federal authorities announced that they had identified a person of interest in the attack.^[26][11] He is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, and lived in Connecticut.^[25][14]

Federal agents and police arrested the person of interest, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, on May 3, 2010.^[5] 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.^[27][28][25]

Shahzad was believed to have bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that was found in NYC about a week prior to the incident.^[11] 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 $1,300 (CNN listed the deal as being for $1,800)^[27] which he reportedly paid in $100 bills, at a shopping center in Connecticut.^[29]

Shahzad was expected to be transported to Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center.^[28][25] He will appear in Manhattan federal court on May 4 to be formally charged.^[25]

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".^[30] 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."^[30][14]

President Barack Obama was briefed on the incident, and promised federal assistance in the investigation.^[3] The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Joint Terrorism Task Force also provided assistance to the NYPD.^[31]

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".^[32] 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.^[18][17] Several other groups have claimed responsibility, with no evidence or verified data.^[32] Al Jazeera said Pakistani Taliban sources denied being involved.^[33]

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