Suspect Arrested in Attempted New York City Terrorist Bombing

Tuesday morning, May 4, 2010, a suspect is under arrest. The prayers of many and the good work of law enforcement, coupled with the failure of the bomb to detonate, spared the people of New York and the United States another tragic blow from the hands of a terrorist with evil intent.

NEW YORK (Catholic Online) - On Saturday evening May 1, 2010, an alert T Shirt vendor in Times Square, followed his best instincts. This Vietnam Veteran with a sense of civic duty knew something was wrong when he saw smoke coming from the back of a Nissan Pathfinder parked in the Square. He told one of New York's finest, a mounted Police Officer, whose immediate response set in motion what has turned into a textbook example of how to handle such threats. Now, this Tuesday morning, May 4, 2010, a suspect is under arrest. The prayers of many and the good work of law enforcement, coupled with the failure of the bomb to detonate spared the people of New York and the United States another tragic blow from the hands of a terrorist with evil intent. From the beginning of the reports on this matter, the device has been referred to as "crude". However, there is no doubt it was clearly intended to detonate and cause terror. If it had it accomplished its intended evil objective it would have killed many Americans and terrorized the Nation. Having been set to detonate at that time on a Saturday evening in Times Square, in the area of the theatres, this car bomb was intended to cause serious harm - and it would have done so - no matter how crude the device. This was a car bomb with serious potential to kill and cause untold misery. It simply did not work as intended by the terrorist(s). And that Vietnam Veteran reminds us of the greatest weapon we have against such terror, dedicated and alert citizens with a sense of duty. It also reminds the Nation that we must remain vigilant and honestly contend with the truth concerning the primary source of the terror threat to this Nation.   The suspect in the case is a US citizen named Faisal Shahzad. He was arrested late Monday evening at 11:45 pm, as he was attempting to leave the country on a flight to Dubai. He will appear in Manhattan federal court late Tuesday morning. Apparently his intended destination was Pakistan where he has a wife. According to a source which desires anonymity, he was there for five months earlier this year. On Monday the Terrorism Task force of the FBI took over the investigation. It was becoming clear that there was a connection to international terrorism. The vehicle was parked near Viacom, the company which owns the Comedy central Network. Comedy Central recently aired a "South Park" episode which depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume, to the ire of many Muslims. Attorney General Holder told the Press on Saturday evening "It is clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans.... The American people should know that we are deploying every resource available and we will not rest until we have brought everyone responsible to justice."  

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