Car Bomb found in Times Square: a synopsis

At 6:30 pm, New York City Police responded to a call made of a vehicle emitting smoke while parked in Times Square. Upon investigating, police called the bomb squad for assistance and discovered what can best be described as being an amateur and crude attempt to make an explosive device. Police were able to collect three propane tanks, two five-gallon tanks of gasoline, and consumer-grade fireworks. Also found were two clocks with batteries. Reports indicated that a "gun locker" was found inside the vehicle and taken to the NYPD firing range for destruction. Initial investigation into the incident suggests that the car does not match the license plates on it, which were taken from a junkyard in Connecticut. As of yet, there is no indication that an individual has been linked to the vehicle as pieces continue to be pieced together.


It is important to emphasize that this incident strikes many similarities to the "lone wolf" attempt that occurred at Glasgow Intl. Airport in 2007 and to an attempted nightclub bombing in London the same year. The devices in both cases, similar to yesterday's incident, used similar construction methods. What is interesting however is the "gun locker" inside the vehicle which its contents have not been made public. Considering the placement of the vehicle, close to the one of the busiest areas of the country - Times Square - it raises a question of whether or not this attack could have been a two-stage attack using a car bomb first and potentially another method afterwards to create even more chaos. What is also curious is if the individual was aware that the device failed and fled the scene before reaching its intended target.


This is a very important wake-up call that our biggest threat are the clerics like Anwar al-Aulaqi and those individuals who broadcast not only their messages of hate as well as terrorist propaganda that enables individuals from within every society, including America and just as in the UK, to self-indoctrinate themselves to the violence that they used to have to go abroad to receive training on. These people do not give hints as to their intentions and are silent when it comes to the terror chatter that helped the feds in the Najibullah Zazi case. We are not capable of protecting ourselves adequately without the help of vigilant people such as the T-shirt vendor who called for assistance after identifying the suspicious vehicle. Perhaps the most important thing that anyone can take were his parting words as he left the scene, the NYPD awareness program's motto "See something, Say something."