DC Letters Not Linked to Times Square Bombing; Similarities With Earlier Consulate Bombings

Photographs of the damaged recruiting center (above) and Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly (below) by Mary Altaffer/AP

The FBI said letters sent to many Congressional members with a photograph of a man standing in front of the Times Square recruiting center and an anti-war manifesto were not linked to yesterday's bombing outside the center. A law enforcement source did call the letters an "incredibly unbelievable coincidence," as they arrived in many offices yesterday, after days of sorting (per post-anthrax scare measures).

Now investigators are looking at similarities the bombing has with the 2005 British Consulate bombing on Third Avenue and the 2007 Mexican Consulate bombing on East 39th. All three bombs were thrown by a bicyclist; all three bombs were made with a similar powder.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly added, "The fact of the matter is that all three incidents happened within a 30-minute span, a 25-minute span," with yesterday's bomb going off around 3:43 a.m., the British Consulate bomb at 3:55 a.m., and the Mexican Consulate bomb at 3:40 a.m.

The NYPD and FBI are looking at all the evidence. The NYPD released footage showing a bicyclist near the scene at the time of the blast, and a 10-speed bicycle was found abandoned on West 38th Street. Yesterday's bomb was put in a small ammunition box; though it was an "unsophisticated" improvised explosive device, Kelly said someone could have been killed from it. Mayor Bloomberg also derided the attack which "insults every one of our brave men and women in uniform stationed around the world."

A retired NYPD detective who is now a profiler, Ray Pierce, told the NY Times, "What you have here is a very frustrated individual, someone who is trying to send a message, but it is a very confused message." The suspect could be a bike messenger, because "he feels comfortable on the bicycle."

Also remarked upon was how the bombing took place on the 38th anniversary of the Weathermen's Greenwich Village townhouse bombing. The Mexican Consulate bombing occurred on the anniversary of journalist Bradley Roland Will's death in Oaxaca and the British Consulate bombing occurred on British Election Day.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on March 7, 2008 10:01 AM

Comments [rss]

glennQNYC

Streetsblog reader no doubt. What an asshole.

starrygordon

Sorry about the double post. I got a message that the first had failed. It didn't show up, so I posted it again. Then both showed up. Go figure.

As for the cyclist part, of course. Everyone knows cyclists are terrorist subversives one and all. We give them nice bicycle lanes to ride in when trucks and cars don't need to drive or park in them, and this is how they show their appreciation.

ihateallbrokers

insert joke or witty comment here ____________

sit back and wait for knock on door from Homeland security!

SP

"The suspect could be a bike messenger, because "he feels comfortable on the bicycle.""

LMFAO!!!!!! Dont quit your day job pal! Oh wait you already did! What a dipshit!

starrygordon

I was sitting in an airport in Florida and the TV news which they forcibly imposed on the hapless travelers was absolutely raving about this minor incident. I think people really enjoy this sort of thing enormously, especially the government and the media -- it gives meaning to their otherwise bland, pallid. processed lives. Imagine, a whole country talking about a small, ineffective bomb, rolling their eyes and shaking in their boots.

EricRoberts

Criminal profiling is total pseudoscience.

miss_mess

first they came for the cyclists, and i did not speak up, because i was not a cyclist.

this is going to be a fucking nightmare for cyclists everywhere.

pete

A retired NYPD detective who is now a profiler, Ray Pierce, told the NY Times, "What you have here is a very frustrated individual, someone who is trying to send a message, but it is a very confused message." He could be a bike messenger, because "he feels comfortable on the bicycle."

Bicyclists prepare to feel the pain of random stops, searches, and interrogations.

petebfd

someone could have been killed. if they were sitting on it...

drewo

A retired NYPD detective who is now a profiler told the NY Times "He could be a bike messenger, because "he feels comfortable on the bicycle."

huh?

starrygordon

I was sitting in an airport in Florida and the TV news which they forcibly imposed on the hapless travelers was absolutely raving about this minor incident. I think people really enjoy this sort of thing enormously, especially the government and the media -- it gives meaning to their otherwise bland, pallid. processed lives. Imagine, a whole country talking about a small, ineffective bomb, rolling their eyes and shaking in their boots.