2010 Times Square car bomb attempt

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 had alerted an officer to the threat when he spotted smoke coming from a vehicle. The bomb had been ignited, but there was no explosion, 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. 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).
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, consumer-grade fireworks, two five-gallon cans of gasoline, three propane tanks, 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.
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.
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,
Arrest
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".
Federal agents and police arrested the person of interest, thirty year old Faisal Shahzad, on May 3, 2010.
He had paid in cash three weeks prior 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) which he reportedly paid in $100 bills, at a shopping center in Connecticut.
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. United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano stated that the attempted bombing was regarded as "a potential terrorist attack." Law enforcement officials planned to review security camera footage from the area for additional information. The Pathfinder was determined to be stolen, and 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.
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". Al Jazeera said Pakistani Taliban sources denied being involved.

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