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Some Capitol Hill offices received letters claiming responsibility for this morning's bombing in Times Square. WNBC reports that the letters, which arrived today, included a photo of the Army recruiting center "before it was bombed and...the words 'We did it.'"
According to the AP, Senator Dianne Feinstein's office sent this email to other lawmakers:
"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 email also advised people not to open the letters and contact the police.
Earlier, the police released police footage that shows a bicyclist near the building right before the explosion. It is believed the bicyclist placed the improvised explosive device that exploded at 3:45 a.m. There were no injuries, but the city was wounded in other ways. Mayor Bloomberg said, "Whoever the coward was that committed this disgraceful act on our city will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We will not tolerate such attacks."
UPDATE 9:47 p.m.: Whoa/weird - WNBC reports the authorities are "revisiting an incident that occurred along the Canadian border last month because they are concerned there might be a connection to the Times Square explosion." Why? Because four men fled a border checkpoint when Canadian officials attempted to question them. Two got away and one "left behind a backpack with photos of various New York City locations including Times Square" including one of the recruitment center.
Aware of this incident, the NYPD went to "various New York City businesses, including the Times Square recruitment center, to investigate if there had been any recent threats," but none had any. According to WNBC, a source described one of the men detained as "anarchist-types" and "stressed there is nothing to link the border incident to the explosion or the Capitol Hill letters at this time."
As for the letters, eight House Democrats representing NYC received letters; it's possible more were sent. After the jump, the email sent to Congress members:
Attention All Members of the Congressional CommunitySo much for not forwarding the email. The Capitol Police's statement said, "The U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI are working together to investigate letters received by various members of Congress. There is no established connection between these letters and the NYC Times Square incident this morning. The investigation is ongoing...more details as they become available."Within the past twenty-four hours, a number of letters have begun arriving at various Congressional Offices on Capitol Hill. The letters contain a reference to the military recruiting office in New York City. At this time, none of the letters received, have contained any threat to the Congressional Community or Members of Congress.
All of the letters have properly passed through Congressional mail security screening procedures before arriving at various Congressional Offices and have been determined to be safe.
These letters can be identified in the following manner:
* All envelopes received have all been manila in color and are approximately five inches by eight inches in size.
* All envelopes have two (one dollar) stamps affixed to them and a white label with a return address.The United States Capitol Police want to preserve any possible evidence. Therefore, in the event that any envelopes arrive at your Congressional Office, please respond in the following manner:
1. Do not attempt to open the envelope.
2. Immediately contact the USCP Command Center at 22X-XXXXThe Command Center will have an officer dispatched to your office to take possession of the letter. Because this is an ongoing criminal investigation, please do not forward this email or release information outside your immediate office."
According to a congressional staffer, the man in the photograph is in his 30s and has red hair. The letter had a Los Angeles return address, but "the staffer said it was not possible to determine if it was genuine."
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Wow, this whole thing is crazy. Kinda funny they take responsibility for the smallest attack I've ever heard of.
Hopefully it was just to show they can, not to show they will kill people... But thats not how terrorism works.
If the members of Congress got the letters today, that means that they had to have been sent a day or two ago.
Obama did it.
Did they determine sex of the "bomber"? IMHO it was either an anti-war Code Pink lesbian or cheated delivery dude from local MSG Kitchen.
Army of We
Crazy Canadian Kooks.
The Sex in the City movie will be the bigger bomb.
Possibly related: a Canadian got my bank info and stole close to $3000 - enough to buy a 10-speed bike and dark hoodie?
HMMM. General election coming up and small acts of Terrorism? It worked well enough in 2000 with the anthrax, I remember my moms buying cipro, I think it's time the Karl Rove fear machine started up again. I can see it now "We need a strong leader that will defend this Nation....and that Man is John McCain"
Bomb my ass. I could put an M80 in a box and cause a bigger incident....
They would have probably done more damage if they stole a SUV and drove it into the building.
It was Sergeant Slaughter. Great publicity.
Red-haired male in his 30's? Will we never be rid of Carrot Top?
"If the members of Congress got the letters today, that means that they had to have been sent a day or two ago."
More than that, apparently. From the AP:
"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."
Also, in contrast to the "red hair" mentioned above, the same article states: "The man in the photo was thin, white with graying hair, wearing a striped flannel shirt and jeans..."
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20080307/D8V8E7OG2.html
at least we won't be having any national conventions here this year.
I find it exceedingly interesting that with oh... about 4000 cameras in Times Sq and the countless cameras around consulates that they can't find this person. Unless of course they are deliberately *not* finding them.
Just a thought but maybe this is not such a surprise and maybe this is an excuse to say "Seeeeee?!? We need more wiretapping and invasion into your privacy in order to *protect* you."
I am putting my money on an inside job, if you know what I mean.
Curiously timed don't ya think? Especially since it seems that congress has finally begun to push back.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/washington/03fisa.html?ref=todayspaper
10 & 15: quite right, quite right.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!! The first conspiracy theory about the Times Square Bomber! How funny. Like a firecracker going off on a sidewalk at 4AM is going to scare anyone.
This guy's going to get caught. They got him on videotape and now they have these mailings with all the forensic evidence that entails.
It does seems strange that the timing of the receipt of the letter worked out so perfectly, especially given what the AP said.
actually the letters have nothing to do with the bombing according to the fbi:
http://www.wnbc.com/news/15523668/detail.html?rss=ny&psp=news
"We Did It"???? pffft dude has seen 12 Monkeys too many times.
I blame Critical Mass. Or Karl Rove.