Terrorism here in the US

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Updated January 02, 2010
Official: Al Qaeda Working to Launch Attack on U.S. Soil

National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter says that officials "know with absolute certainty" that Al Qaeda and others are trying to refine their methods.

WASHINGTON - A top counterterrorism official is warning that Al Qaeda and other extremists are working to test U.S. defenses and launch an attack on American soil.

National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter says the failed Christmas Day attempt to bring down a U.S. airliner is the starkest reminder of that threat.

Leiter said in a statement Saturday that officials "know with absolute certainty" that Al Qaeda and others are trying to refine their methods.
The center is part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It draws experts from the CIA, FBI, Pentagon and other agencies who try to ensure that clues about potential attacks are not missed.

Terrorism expert Harvey Kushner of Long Island University said a significant concern is that many U.S. airports don't currently have the necessary technology to protect flights from the type of explosives attack attempted on Christmas.

The suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, apparently assembled an explosive device, including 80 grams of Pentrite, or PETN, in the aircraft toilet of a Detroit-bound Northwest flight, then planned to detonate it with a syringe of chemicals. Passengers intervened, and the plan failed.

"What's disturbing about this is we're almost nine years after 9/11 and billions of dollars have been spent and we don't have in place a system which can make us safe in the air," Kushner, chair of the school's Criminal Justice Department told The Associated Press. "You'll never be able to harden the targets to rule out terrorist activity. But we need to spend more money and have more concentration on the dangers in the skies."

[Aplomb]

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news...ce.Booby.Traps

Calif police department on alert for deadly traps

HEMET, Calif. — Police in this picturesque city in rural Riverside County have been on edge in recent weeks. Someone is trying to kill them.

First, a natural gas pipe was shoved through a hole drilled into the roof of the gang enforcement unit's headquarters. The building filled with flammable vapor but an officer smelled the danger before anyone was hurt.

"It would have taken out half a city block," Capt. Tony Marghis said.

Then, a ballistic contraption was attached to a sliding security fence around the building. An officer opening the black steel gate triggered the mechanism, which sent a bullet within eight inches of his face.

In another attempted booby trap attack, some kind of explosive device was attached to a police officer's unmarked car while he went into a convenience store.

"There's a person or people out there, a bunch of idiots, trying to do damage to us," Hemet Police Chief Richard Dana said. "We can't expect our luck to hold up, we need help."

Since New Year's Eve, there have been several other booby trap attempts to kill officers, Dana said.

"The only reason they haven't killed an officer yet is because we've been observant enough to see devices planted around the station and in cars and different places," he said.

Gang enforcement officers appear to be the target of the assassination attempts, though Dana noted the devices were indiscriminate by nature and could have killed any police or law enforcement officer.

The incidents have shaken a close-knit police department already demoralized by steep budget cuts that last year saw its officer numbers slashed by a quarter to 68. Officers are checking under cars for bombs and scouting for other potential hazards.

"I would call the mood tense," Capt. Marghis said. "Everyone is being very vigilant about their surroundings and the environment."

Dana said officers have seen gang members carrying out counter-surveillance, studying police behavior. He often looks in his rear view mirror when he drives home at night to make sure he is not being followed.

In the attack with a ballistic contraption, the officer only avoided being shot in the head because the wheels on the sliding gate were wonky so he had to angle his body to open it.

"He had to push it to the right, the bullet went by to the left," Dana said.

Hemet, surrounded by the snow-topped San Jacinto Mountains about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, was traditionally known as a quiet retirement community. The population has grown in recent years to about 75,000 but the once-booming housing market has been hit hard by the foreclosure crisis.

Investigators are still trying to determine why officers are being targeted. A prevalent theory is that members of an outlaw motorcycle gang — the Vagos — were angered when members of Hemet's anti-gang task force monitored them at a funeral in a church opposite the task force's former headquarters.

A memorial service was held Dec. 29 in the Hemet Christian Assembly church and upward of 100 members of the gang attended, said Riverside County sheriff's Capt. Walter Meyer, who oversees the regional gang task force.

Officers monitored the memorial but did not attend the service. Some of the Vagos members were questioned or followed as they left town.

Two days later, the gang enforcement unit's black shingle roof was drilled through and the single-level house, converted for police use, filled up with gas.

"Which would obviously leave a reasonable person to ask: Are they involved?" Meyer said.

One of the church's pastors, James McKiney, said a group of motorcycling friends mourning the death of a prominent Hemet man asked if he would conduct a memorial service.

"When a family is crying and asking for a service, you don't say no to them," McKiney said. "I said that's no problem, I'll do that."

McKiney declined to discuss the service or if he recalled any gang officers monitoring its attendants.

Authorities said about 30 members of the Vagos, California's largest motorcycle gang, were arrested in Riverside County on Wednesday, as part of a crackdown across the state and in Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Prosecutors don't have a total number of arrests yet.

Meyer said there are about 200 Vagos members in Riverside County. The gang specializes in methamphetamine sales, identity theft and violence, he said.

Law enforcement officials from around the state on Thursday appealed for the public's help in solving the case. Several state, local and national agencies have banded together to put forward a $200,000 reward.

"It is incredible and I think unprecedented that police officers in the line of duty could be subjected to these kind of terrorist attempts on their lives," Attorney General Jerry Brown said.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[American Patriot]

California?

Wow. Mexican drug gangs folks.

They aren't terrorists! They are "just illegal aliens trying to make a living"!

LOL

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http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts...2.1669044.html

May 2, 2010 12:02 am US/Eastern
Suspicious Package Halts Times Sq. After Car Fire

Bomb Squad Using Robot To Inspect Suspicious Package In Vehicle's Back Seat


NEW YORK (CBS) ―A police investigation after a car fire is disrupting traffic, both on the roads and the sidewalks, in Times Square.

Officials say there were no injuries in the car fire, but that there was a suspicious package in the vehicle's back seat.

As a precaution, the bomb squad was brought to the scene and was using a robot to inspect the package. Sources say the robot got up close to the package, but that its inspection was inconclusive. Bomb squad personnel then suited up and went in.

Sources tell CBS 2 that gunpowder and gasoline were found inside the vehicle.

A portion of Times Square has been shut down during the investigation. Traffic is being diverted from the area and pedestrians have been pushed back from the scene.

Vehicle and foot traffic has been blocked off from Broadway to Seventh Avenue between 44th and 46th Streets.

Stay with CBS 2 and wcbstv.com for more on this developing story.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...ncy_probe.html

NYPD confirms SUV contained what appears to be a car bomb, bomb squad dismantling 'failed device'

Reuters
Originally Published:Saturday, May 1st 2010, 9:34 PM
Updated: Saturday, May 1st 2010, 11:17 PM

Taggart for News
Police are investigating this dark-colored SUV at the corner of 45th and 7th Ave. in Times Square. The SUV appeared to be smoking, triggering an evacuation of the popular tourist destination.


The NYPD said Saturday the incident that caused Times Square to be evacuated was what appeared to be a car bomb, which was being dismantled by officers on the scene.


The vehicle was found to contain explosives, gasoline, propane and burned wires and was being treated as a "failed device," a Fire Department official told Reuters.


"This appears to be a car bomb that the bomb squad is in the process of dismantling," police spokesman Paul Browne said. "We do not know the motive."


Browne said an NYPD mounted policeman spotted a box smoking in the back of the sport utility vehicle and that the area was evacuated shortly after that.


The NYFD officer, who did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said a man was seen fleeing the car and that police had protectively evacuated several blocks around the popular tourist area in the center of Midtown Manhattan in case there were other devices.


Times Square was eerily empty for several blocks on Saturday night, the busiest night of the week on the Great White Way as tourists and theater-goers watched from behind barricades as anti-terrorism units swarmed the scene.


New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said a vehicle had been left in Times Square, with smoke seen coming from it. Browne said a bomb squad responded and a small fire was extinguished.


The SUV was parked very close to a production of "The Lion King" on 45th Street.



Women in evening gowns were among the crowd on one of the warmest nights of the year and the busiest night of the week for Broadway theaters in the area.


Vehicle and pedestrian traffic was very heavy on streets outside the evacuation zone, including Sixth and Eighth Avenues. All intersections in the area were blocked by police and fire department vehicles, lights flashing.


Another New York City firefighter who said he arrived early on the scene described the vehicle as a dark-colored SUV, and said it was parked at the corner of 45th Street and Seventh Avenue. He confirmed the vehicle was smoking and also said he saw "a flash" from the back of the SUV. The firefighter said a "mini-explosion" occurred around 6:30 p.m.


"The SUV was smoking. There was a flash and we put two and two together" and an evacuation was ordered, he said.


The bomb squad remained at the scene as of 11 p.m., including a firefighter in a bomb suit. A robot was being used to investigate the suspicious SUV.

EXPLOSIONS WERE WATER CANNONS
Reuters reporters on the scene said they heard an explosion from the area of the SUV around 9:15 p.m. An NYPD community affairs officer said that and another small explosion heard by bystanders were the sound of water cannons aimed at the vehicle in an attempt to break through the glass.


Two fire trucks were also at the scene, prepared to douse the vehicle with water if needed, the firefighter said.


Police allowed some people to enter theaters to view Broadway shows in the vicinity but later blocked other theatergoers from entering. Some hotel guests were allowed back to their rooms.


At least some of the shows were allowed to go on.


The square itself was mostly evacuated by 8 p.m., according to Reuters reporters on the scene. Police had evacuated an area stretching from about 42nd Street up to 47th Street and including Seventh Avenue and Broadway.


A Reuters reporter on the scene said police began to broaden the area evacuated around 9:30 p.m., with crowds on 45th Street being pushed back from Times Square to Eighth Avenue to the west and Sixth Avenue to the east.


Tourists in the area expressed annoyance and amusement. Nam Vu, 24, said he had arrived by bus in New York at 8 a.m. from Canada and was prevented from meeting a friend at the Marriott Marquis on Times Square.


"I feel like I’m on a TV show," he said. "Where is (actor) Denzel Washington?"
People inside theaters and restaurants on Times Square were generally allowed to stay, or to depart the area, but only police and firefighters were being allowed in.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...#ixzz0mk64t2EO

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http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...-92603649.html

Bomb Threat in Times Square

By JONATHAN DIENST and MELISSA RUSSO


Police Saturday evening closed some streets in Times Square to investigate a car "deemed suspicious."


The bomb squad was investigated the contents of the car, a black Nissan, on 45th Street and found three propane tanks, two or three cans of gasonline, black powder and possibly an alarm clock, law enforcement sources told NBCNewYork.


Police say a call of a car fire came in about 6:30 p.m. Initially, a pedestrian smelled smoked and alerted mounted unit, the sources said.


Officials said it is unclear if device could have worked but they are taking the threat very seriously. Police are reviewing security camera footage for clues as to who parked car there. Sources said the license plate traces back to a Ford, not a Nissan.


According to another source the car was suspicious in more ways than one: It was not parked right at the curb the flashers were going and there was a "light smoking haze" in the passenger compartment. A major concern for officials on the scene is secondary devices.


The Joint Terrorism Task Force was on the scene and an ever widening radius of blocks was closed as a precaution.


In December, a van without license plates parked in Times Square led police to block off part of the area for about two hours. A police robot examined the vehicle.


Clothes, racks and scarves were found inside.


Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York

First Published: May 1, 2010 10:32 PM EDT

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...?mod=asia_home

Bomb Fears Shut Down Times Square


By R.M. SCHNEIDERMAN, SEAN GARDINER and ELLEN GAMERMAN

Dustin Drankoski for the Wall Street Journal NYPD closed off streets from 42nd to 47th along between Broadway and 6th Avenue in New York City.





Police shut down four streets in the heart of Times Square on Saturday night after a car fire, started by a failed bomb attempt, creating panic among tourists and passersby on one of the theater district's busiest nights.


After 6:30 p.m., police received a call about a suspicious vehicle. They blocked the area from West 43rd to 47th streets along Broadway and Seventh Avenue with metal railings. Parts of 48th Street were closed down as well. Before midnight Saturday, New York police confirmed that the vehicle, a Nissan Pathfinder parked on 45th Street near Seventh Avenue, contained a car bomb consisting of electrical components, three propane tanks and two gas tanks
Dustin Drankoski for the Wall Street Journal NYPD closed off streets from pedestrian and vehicle traffic.





Police said a bomb-squad investigation was on the scene and that the car on fire was a sport utility vehicle that had license plates that didn't match the make of the car, raising suspicions. Using a robot, the bomb squad pulled out some propane tanks and a gasoline canister from the car.


At least one Broadway show was canceled and some others were delayed. Subway service on many lines also was suspended or delayed. The evening performance of "The Lion King" was canceled according to the show's Twitter account, and both "God of Carnage" and "A Behanding in Spokane" each began 30 minutes late, show officials said.


Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey attended the musical "Fela!" at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on West 49th Street, and the production began on time and wasn't interrupted, according to a show spokesman.


At around 8 p.m., Lucy Liu, one of the stars of "God of Carnage," walked toward the police barricade on the corner of 45th Street and Eighth Avenue to ask police officers what had happened.


Hundreds of others did the same.


"It sounded like a deeper gun shot," said Ivan Morrison, 19, who was in town from Vermont to see "The Addams Family."


Telecharge and Ticketmaster said they would offer theater-goers tickets for shows midweek, but that didn't appease some tourists.


"I've only got tonight and tomorrow in New York. It's very disappointing," said Annie Monks, 50, visiting from Australia. She was there to see "God of Carnage" but couldn't get in.


Elena Ferraras, 32, and Virginia Moreno, 38, tourists from Madrid, were unable to return to their hotel, the Paramount, on 46th Street.


Larry Franklin, 56, a street vendor said a friend called him about a man on 45th Street, who parked on the corner of 47th and Fifth Avenue and put the keys in a black SUV and walked away. His friend told him smoke began coming out of the back and police rushed to the scene. His friend said he reported the incident to the police station in Times Square.


Matthew Fox, 44, a street vendor walked north along Seventh Avenue between 45th and 46th when he heard a small explosion about 100 feet away closer to 45th Street.


"I looked back and boom," he said. "Everyone started running and women started screaming."


"I was 10 blocks away from 9/11 when it happened," Fox said, "and this wasn't anything like that."


Around 9:15, police began letting ticketholders along 46th Street walk toward the theaters. Hotel guests were still not permitted to enter or leave.


As of 11:45, several hotels in Times Square said the police hadn't given them any instructions in regards to evacuating guests.


"Guests are asking us if we should leave," said a clerk at the Millenium Broadway. "I said 'no' because the police haven't told us anything."


At the Hotel Grace on 45th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, a clerk said that just before midnight, police began letting guests standing in line outside enter in groups of 10.


Enrique Sarasola, 45, the owner of the hotel said guests are permitted to leave, but if they do, they will not be allowed to return until 7 a.m.

Write to R.M. Schneiderman at Ross.Schneiderman@wsjj.com

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http://calamities.gaeatimes.com/2010...he-area-19906/

NYPD finds suspected car bomb in Times Square, evacuates several buildings in the area

By Tom Hays, AP
May 1st, 2010

NYPD finds suspected car bomb in Times Square



NEW YORK — Police evacuated buildings and cleared streets of thousands of tourists around New York City’s Times Square on Saturday after finding an apparent car bomb in a parked SUV.


New York City police said a mounted police officer noticed smoke coming from the SUV at 6:30 p.m. A law enforcement official tolds The Associated Press that bomb investigators found propane tanks, powder and an apparent timing device inside the vehicle. The official wasn’t authorized to release the information and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Times Square, known as the Crossroads of the World, is one of the busiest urban areas in the U.S. and is typically teeming with people.


Police evacuated several residential and commercial buildings and cleared several streets of thousands of tourists milling around on a warm Saturday night.


Police said the car was parked on 45th Street and the block was closed between Seventh and Eighth avenues as a precaution.


Paul Bresson, head of the FBI’s public affairs office at bureau headquarters in Washington, said agents are on the scene with the New York Police Department and that the matter is being taken seriously.


__
AP Washington bureau chief Ron Fournier contributed to this report.

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twitter tweet: Transmission coming out on NYPD radio is requesting all on duty officers check high profile locations & PD station houses.

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Live reporting on Fox right now, planned attack, Times Square was packed, person was probably hoping for the worst possible damage, wanting to do large amounts of damage. This was not small, but very large...

[Ryan Ruck]

Chicago: 'Suspicious' Package Found On Red Line At 95th

May 1, 2010


A bomb disposal technician suits up in protective gear at the scene of a suspicious package at the 95th Street CTA Red Line stop.

CTA service on the Red Line to and from the 95th Street stop was suspended for nearly two hours as police investigated an unattended package found on a train there, officials said.

The package turned out to be a pipe and no explosives were found, said Police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer.

By about 10 p.m., trains and traffic on the Dan Ryan Expressway, which also had been delayed for a time, were running normally again, according to the CTA.

Officials received a report of the "suspicious package" at around 8:15 p.m.; police secured the scene and evacuated the area immediately, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Joe Roccasalva.

The police bomb and arson unit was called to the scene, said Chicago Police Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti.

By 9:10 p.m., outbound lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway were open to traffic, with all traffic lanes opened later, according to authorities. All lanes on that side had been shut down from 87th to 95th, while two lanes of the inbound Ryan were shut down at 95th.

[Ryan Ruck]

With the NY incident, Comedy Central's HQ is at 1515 Broadway which is supposed to be close to this area. Coincidence considering the threats over the recent Mohamed South Park episode?

[samizdat]

It's a dry run. Like flooding 911 calls. Test op by pros. Build fear- watch reactions.

[Malsua]

I read about the South Park angle. It wouldn't surprise me.

[Ryan Ruck]

Watching Fox and caught NYPD Commish in a press conference talking about surveilance footage supposedly showing a white male in his 40s () looking back toward the area, changing a shirt, and then putting the other shirt in a bag.

[Ryan Ruck]

Pittsburgh Marathon Course Altered by Bomb Scare

Police say they have found an explosive device near the course of the Pittsburgh Marathon, forcing them to detour the final part of the race.

May 02, 2010

A suspicious device near the finish line of the Pittsburgh Marathon on Sunday prompted police to briefly stop the race after it had begun. The device was disabled and police said it was not believed to have been an actual explosive.

The device, in a small microwave oven, was spotted Sunday morning on the sidewalk next to the Greyhound bus station after the race leaders had finished the course, police Lt. Kevin Kraus said.

The bomb squad determined there were contents that resembled an explosive, and the area was evacuated, Kraus said. He declined to describe the materials that concerned authorities pending a further evaluation.

"Certainly, from what we did see on the X-rays, we were highly concerned," he said.

The disruption came a day after a car-bomb scare in New York emptied Times Square, clearing thousands of tourists from the streets for 10 hours.

Kraus said police stopped the 26.2 mile race in the area for 10 to 12 minutes. The competition resumed after the bomb squad used a robot to disable the device and the area was cleared shortly before 11 a.m., he said.

"At this point, we believe it was not an actual explosive devices, but we are still evaluating the microwave and its contents," Kraus said. He said surveillance cameras in the area were being examined to try to find out who put the device there.

Police could not immediately confirm the race was re-routed. But Karen Fredette, a marathon spokeswoman, said the race was diverted around the block where the device was found but the finish of the race near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center was not changed.

"We're really happy and happy that everyone is everybody is safe," Fredette said.

A crowd waiting for runners to pass at mile 26 saw the first 10 or 15 runners go by and then were told to move up the street by marathon staff, said Kathleen Riordan, 41, of Dormont, who was waiting for her husband to run by.

"At first I wasn't sure what was going on, either. I thought it was kind of strange that they were changing the marathon course," Riordan said. She didn't hear about the suspicious device until she got to the end of the course.

About 5,000 people took part in the full marathon, which does not attract the sport's elite runners.

Katie Miller, 34, of Butler, and sister Jamie Kemerer, 31, of Charlotte, N.C., finished in about 5 1/2 hours and didn't notice any disruptions. The sisters said the only complication was a steady rain that had slowed to a drizzle by mid-day.

"Our shoes," Kemerer said. "It was 5 pounds on each foot."

[Ryan Ruck]

Pakistani Taliban Claims Responsibility, Reports Claim

Times Square Bomb Plot Revenge, Group Says

02 May 2010

New York City's police commissioner says there's no evidence of a Taliban link to a failed bomb found in an SUV parked in Times Square but sad he couldn't rule them out.

Fox 5 reported Sunday that the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the bomb plot.

According to Fox News, in a 1 minute video allegedly released by the Pakistani Taliban, the group says the attack is revenge for the death of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and the recent killings of the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Images of the slain militants are shown as an unidentified voice recites the message. English subtitles are at the bottom of the screen.

According to the AP, an unidentified speaker on the tape also says the attack comes in response to American "interference and terrorism in Muslim Countries, especially in Pakistan."

The claim could not be immediately confirmed andhe tape makes no specific reference to the attack nor does it mention that it was a car bomb or that it took place in New York City.

A text in gold letters on a black background at the start of the video congratulates Muslims for the "jaw-breaking blow to Satan's USA." As the speaker recites the message, images of the slain militants referred to flash across the screen. English subtitles are provided at the bottom of the screen.

The video was uncovered Sunday by SITE, which monitors militant websites and has been accurate with such militant claims in the past.

The Pakistani Taliban is one of Pakistan's largest and deadliest militant groups. It has strong links to al-Qaida and is based in the northwest close to the Afghan border. The group has carried out scores of bloody attacks inside Pakistan in recent years, mostly against Pakistani targets, but it has made no secret of its hatred toward the United States.

The investigation into the Times Square bomb plot is ongoing. Mayor Bloomberg called the improvised device "amateurish".

According to the New York Times, a 911 call on Sunday morning warned that the bomb plot was merely a diversion for a much bigger explosion that is set to happen at Times Square.

More information on these developments throughout Sunday. The FBI released the following statement:

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York, along with the NYPD, has responded to Times Square in response to the vehicle and device. Bomb technicians, Evidence Response Team members, and investigators are on scene and a command post has been established. All of the resources of the New York FBI office are available to assist with this ongoing investigation. Numerous initial reports will be checked and authenticated and the appropriate leads will be set.

[Aplomb]

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/...park_link.html

May 03, 2010 Times Square South Park link?

Ethel C. Fenig
Was the bomb that almost exploded in busy, crowded New York's Times Square a fulfillment of the prophecy/threat by the followers of the Prophet Mohammed and his religion of peace that death would befall Cartman and his South Park creators if they portrayed and mocked the holy one? Britain's The Telegraph suggests it might be.

The device, which failed to detonate, was left near the offices of Viacom, which owns the irreverent cartoon series.

(snip) A posting on the website of a US-based group called Revolution Muslim warned Stone and Parker that they would "probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh", the Dutch film-maker who was murdered in 2004 by a Muslim angered by his film about Muslim women.
Images of the Prophet are strictly forbidden in Islam, and Comedy Central, which broadcasts South Park, has banned Stone and Parker from depicting Mohammed in the past. In 2006 the network stopped them from featuring Mohammed in an episode which followed worldwide protests over a caricature of the Prophet by a Danish cartoonist.
Detectives are also understood to be investigating striking similarities between the New York bomb and two car bombs planted by Islamic terrorists outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in London in 2007.
In both cases, the devices comprised cylinders of propane gas and cans full of petrol intended to be ignited by electronic detonators.

In the Times Square incident, the smoking car

contained three propane tanks, fireworks, two five gallon gasoline containers, two clocks with batteries, electrical wires and a 4ft by 2ft metal box.

Although police are publicly dismissing the bomb as an amateurish contraption, had it detonated many people could have been seriously injured, even killed, in such a tightly packed area. Times Square, A New York entertainment, shopper and tourist mecca (pun intended), Times Square businesses, stores and movie and live theaters suffered from the incident on the busiest night of the week.
The police are discounting a Pakistani report that the bomb was revenge for the killing of Pakistani Taliban.

[American Patriot]

So....

It sounds like this was definitely a tried attack - that failed. But... it's kind of weird the bomb didn't go off and no terrorists were injured in the making of this attempt.

Too bad they didn't accidentally kill themselves.

[vector7]

Official: TSA ramping up East Coast security measures

The Transportation Security Administration on Sunday ramped up security screening at airports along the East Coast after an attempted car bombing a day earlier in New York's Times Square, a Department of Homeland Security official said.

The official told CNN the TSA has begun operations to counter potential car bombs, or "vehicle-born improvised explosive devices," as well as taking measures to prevent other kinds of terrorist acts that might occur in crowded public spaces.

The TSA also is coordinating with Customs and Border Protection to facilitate additional secondary passenger screening on both domestic and international flights, the official said.

Officials in Washington participated in a call with top TSA officials at airports in New York, Boston and Philadelphia to talk about partnering with Customs to identify flights that might need more random screening, the official said.