Blast damages Times Square recruit station

[thedrifter]

Blast damages Times Square recruit station
By Derek Rose - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 6, 2008 7:26:51 EST

NEW YORK — An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above.

Police blocked off the area to investigate the explosion, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m., shattering the station’s glass entryway. No one was injured.

“If it is something that’s directed toward American troops, then it’s something that’s taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate,” said Army Capt. Charlie Jaquillard, who is the commander of Army recruiting in Manhattan.

He said no one was inside the station, where the Marines, Air Force and Navy also recruit.

Witnesses staying at a Marriott hotel four blocks away said they could feel the building shake with the blast.

“I was up on the 44th floor and I could feel it. It was a big bang,” said Darla Peck, 25, of Portland, Ore.

“It shook the building. I thought it could have been thunder, but I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke, so I knew it was an explosion,” said Terry Leighton, 48, of London, who was staying on the 21st floor of the Marriott.

Members of the police department’s bomb squad and fire officials gathered outside the station in the early-morning darkness, and police cars and yellow tape blocked drivers — most of them behind the wheels of taxicabs — from entering one of the world’s busiest crossroads. Police began allowing some traffic through around the start of rush hour.

The recruiting station, located on a traffic island surrounded by Broadway theaters and chain restaurants, has occasionally been the site of anti-war demonstrations, ranging from silent vigils to loud rallies.

In October 2005 a group of activists who call themselves the Granny Peace Brigade rallied there against the Iraq war. Eighteen activists, most of them grandmothers with several in their 80s and 90s, were later acquitted of disorderly conduct.

The recruiting station was renovated in 1999 to better fit into the flashy ambiance of Times Square, using neon tubing to give the glass and steel office a patriotic American flag motif. For a half-century, the station was the armed forces’ busiest recruiting center. It has set national records for enlistment, averaging about 10,000 volunteers a year.

Police said it was too early to say if the blast may have been related to two other minor explosions in the city.

In October, two small explosive devices were tossed over a fence at the Mexican consulate, shattering three windows but causing no injuries. No threats had been made against the consulate, and no one took responsibility for the explosion, police said.

At the time, police said they were investigating whether it was connected to a similar incident at the British consulate May 5, 2005.

In that incident, the explosions took place in the early-morning hours, when Britons were going to the polls in an election that returned Prime Minister Tony Blair to power.

In both cases, the instruments were fake grenades sometimes sold as novelty items. They were packed with black power and detonated with fuses but incapable of causing serious harm, police said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

chicagotribune.com
Police Investigate Times Square Blast

By DEREK ROSE

Associated Press Writer

7:01 AM CST, March 6, 2008

NEW YORK


An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above "the crossroads of the world."

Police blocked off the area to investigate the explosion, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m.. No one was injured. The blast left a gaping hole in the front window and shattered a glass door, twisting and blackening its metal frame.

"If it is something that's directed toward American troops than it's something that's taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate," said Army Capt. Charlie Jaquillard, who is the commander of Army recruiting in Manhattan.

He said no one was inside the station, where the Marines, Air Force and Navy also recruit.

Witnesses staying at a Marriott hotel four blocks away said they could feel the building shake with the blast.

"I was up on the 44th floor and I could feel it. It was a big bang," said Darla Peck, 25, of Portland, Oregon.

"It shook the building. I thought it could have been thunder, but I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke so I knew it was an explosion," said Terry Leighton, 48, of London, who was staying on the 21st floor of the Marriott.

Members of the police department's bomb squad and fire officials gathered outside the station in the early morning darkness, and police cars and yellow tape blocked drivers -- most of them behind the wheels of taxicabs -- from entering one of the world's busiest crossroads. Police began allowing some traffic through around the start of rush hour.

Though subway cars passed through the Times Square station without stopping in the early hours of the investigation, normal service was soon restored, with some delays.

The recruiting station, located on a traffic island surrounded by Broadway theaters and chain restaurants, has occasionally been the site of anti-war demonstrations, ranging from silent vigils to loud rallies.

In October 2005, a group of activists who call themselves the Granny Peace Brigade rallied there against the Iraq war. Eighteen activists, most of them grandmothers with several in their 80s and 90s, were later acquitted of disorderly conduct.

The recruiting station was renovated in 1999 to better fit into the flashy ambiance of Times Square, using neon tubing to give the glass and steel office a patriotic American flag motif. For a half century, the station was the armed forces' busiest recruiting center. It has set national records for enlistment, averaging about 10,000 volunteers a year.

Police said it was too early to say if the blast may have been related to two other minor explosions in the city.

In October, two small explosive devices were tossed over a fence at the Mexican consulate, shattering three windows but causing no injuries. No threats had been made against the consulate, and no one took responsibility for the explosion, police said.

At the time, police said they were investigating whether it was connected to a similar incident at the British consulate on May 5, 2005.

In that incident, the explosions took place in the early morning hours, when Britons were going to the polls in an election that returned Prime Minister Tony Blair to power.

In both cases, the instruments were fake grenades sometimes sold as novelty items. They were packed with black power and detonated with fuses, but incapable of causing serious harm, police said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Cyclist taped at recruit station before blast
By Tom Hays - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 6, 2008 14:29:15 EST

NEW YORK — Police released footage from a private security camera on Thursday showing a cyclist riding up to the Times Square military recruiting station where a small bomb was detonated.

The video shows the cyclist getting off a bike at 3:40 a.m. Thursday and walking toward the building. A minute or so later, the person returned to the bike and rode away. A brief flash and a cloud of white smoke follows.

A bike thought to be used in the crime was later found in the trash on West 38th Street, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

No one was hurt in the blast, which caused minor damage to the landmark recruiting center.

But Kelly said the device, though “unsophisticated,” could have caused “injury and even death.”

The commissioner said a man told police that while buying a newspaper shortly before the blast, he noticed a cyclist in a hooded jacket — “his whole face was pretty much covered.” The cyclist was “riding very slowly and wearing a backpack,” the witness said.

In October, two small explosive devices were tossed over a fence at the Mexican Consulate on Manhattan’s East Side in 2007, shattering some windows; police said they thought someone on a bicycle threw the devices. At the time, police said they were investigating whether it was connected to a similar incident at the British consulate on May 5, 2005. No one was arrested in either incident.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the witness did not see anyone placing or throwing the explosive device.

Kelly said that “in 2005, 2007, dummy hand grenades were used and the explosive, black powder, was put into those grenades and that caused the explosion. Here, it may be similar powder — we still have to determine that. But it was placed in an ammunition box. That was the carrier for the explosive. There was no grenade.”

Kelly held up a similar green metal box at a morning press conference and said they were readily available in Army-Navy surplus stores.

The Times Square blast prompted a huge police response that disrupted transit at the “crossroads of the world.”

It left a gaping hole in the front window and shattered a glass door, twisting and blackening the metal frame of the building, which is on a traffic island.

“I was getting ready to set up the cart when I heard a loud explosion,” said Bashir Saleh, who runs a breakfast cart at 43rd Street and Seventh Avenue, across from the recruiting station. “I ran out, and saw smoke coming out.”

“I didn’t see it that second,” said David Hassan, another breakfast cart owner operating across the street from Saleh. “I saw smoke and there was a loud boom. I was scared. I’m still shaky.”

Both men said that an officer from the police substation, a block south of the recruiting station, immediately came running out. Police reinforcement arrived soon after, they said.

The military’s 1,600 recruiting stations nationwide were alerted to the New York incident and advised to use extra caution, said Douglas Smith, spokesman for the Army recruiting command.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said no official higher state of alert had been issued.

“We do get occasional vandals at our recruiting stations,” Whitman said, adding that he didn’t have figures on how many. “It’s unfortunate but it happens from time to time.”

He said New York recruiters would be working temporarily out of their Union Square office.

Bloomberg said the act “insults every one of our brave men and women in uniform stationed around the world.”

“Whoever the coward was that committed this disgraceful act on our city will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Bloomberg said. “We will not tolerate such attacks.”

The recruiting center has drawn sporadic protests for many years, including in October 2005, when a group who call themselves the Granny Peace Brigade rallied there against the Iraq war. Eighteen activists, most of them grandmothers in their 80s and 90s, were later acquitted of disorderly conduct. The brigade issued a statement Thursday deploring the bombing.

Police cars and yellow tape initially blocked drivers from entering one of the world’s busiest crossroads, though some traffic was allowed through around the start of rush hour.

Guests at the Marriott Marquis on 46th Street said they heard a “big bang” and felt the building shake.

Terry Leighton, 49, from London, said he was on the 21st floor of the hotel when he heard the blast and looked out a window.

“I thought it could have been thunder,” he said. “I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke. So I knew it was an explosion.”

At one point in the investigation subway trains passed through the Times Square subway station without stopping, but normal service resumed later in the morning. Police cars and tape blocked the streets.

The recruiting center was renovated in 1999 to better fit into the flashy ambiance of Times Square, using neon tubing to give the glass and steel office a patriotic American flag motif. For a half century, the station was the armed forces’ busiest recruiting center. It has set national records for enlistment, averaging about 10,000 volunteers a year.

http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/030608times_square/

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Times Sq. Bomb Letters: "We Did It"
Lawmakers Get Letters With Photo Of Military Recruiting Station, Anti-Iraq War Manifesto

(CBS/AP) A trail of possible clues is stretching from New York to Washington after a bicycle-riding bomber struck the landmark Times Square military station. The pre-dawn Thursday blast hurt no one but scarred one of the world's most recognizable locations.

Capitol Hill offices received letters Thursday containing a photo of the Times Square military recruiting office before it was bombed, and including the claim "We Did It."

The manila envelopes contained a photo of a man standing in front of the recruiting station before it was bombed. The photo was the kind commonly sent as a holiday greeting card, according to a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation.

The message on the card: "Happy New Year, We Did It."

The envelope also contained a packet of approximately 10 sheets of paper that seemed to be a political manifesto railing against the Iraq war and a booklet. The aide didn't know what the booklet was. A second aide, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said similar letters arrived in as many as 10 offices.

Capitol Police, FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service were investigating. In an e-mail to lawmakers, Capitol Police said the envelopes went through the standard security process. That process, which involves radiating incoming mail, can easily take a week or more, making it likely the letters were mailed well ahead of the bombing.

Each envelope was stamped with two $1 stamps and contained a while label with a return address, which the police did not identify in the e-mail. Police said the letters were safe and did not contain threats to lawmakers.

The man in the photo was thin, white with graying hair, wearing a striped flannel shirt and jeans, the Democratic aide said. A law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing, confirmed some of the contents of the letters as described by the aide.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of an e-mail sent from the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to other lawmakers Thursday that reads:

"A few offices on the House side have received a letter today addressed to 'Members of Congress' with a picture of a man standing in front of the Times Square recruiting station that was bombed in New York today with the statement 'We did it.' He is standing in front of it with his arms spread out and he's attached his political manifesto."

The blast left a gaping hole in the front window and shattered a glass door, twisting and blackening its metal frame. No one was hurt, but Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the device, though unsophisticated, could have caused "injury and even death."

The low-order explosive planted in an ammunition box went off at about 3:45 a.m., and no one was inside the station, where the Marines, Air Force and Navy also recruit.

Police were searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance video pedaling away.

Witnesses staying at a Marriott hotel four blocks away said they could feel the building shake with the blast.

One person told CBS station WCBS-TV, "I heard this big bang. I thought it was thunder. I looked out the window, and didn't see any rain, I saw people running."

"It shook the building. I thought it could have been thunder, but I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke so I knew it was an explosion," said Terry Leighton, 48, of London, who was staying on the 21st floor of the Marriott.

Members of the police department's bomb squad and fire officials gathered outside the station in the early morning darkness, and police cars and yellow tape blocked drivers - most of them behind the wheels of taxicabs - from entering one of the world's busiest crossroads.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

FBI Says Bomb in Times Square, Mailings to Hill Are Not Linked <br />
<br />
By Dan Eggen <br />
Washington Post Staff Writer <br />
Saturday, March 8, 2008; A03 <br />
<br />
<br />
The FBI said yesterday that a man who mailed rambling...