FBI Declined to Pursue NYC Bomb Plot

U.S.
authorities declined to pursue a case against an "Al Qaeda sympathizer"
accused of plotting to bomb police stations and post offices in the New
York area because they believed he was mentally unstable and incapable
of pulling it off, two law enforcement officials said Monday.

New York Police Department investigators
sought to get the FBI involved at least twice as their undercover
investigation of Jose Pimentel unfolded, the officials said. Both times,
the FBI concluded that he wasn't a serious threat, they said.


The FBI concluded that the 27-year-old
Pimentel "didn't have the predisposition or the ability to do anything
on his own," one of the officials said.
The officials were not authorized to speak
about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. The FBI's New York
office declined to comment Monday.


New York authorities said Pimentel is an "Al
Qaeda sympathizer" motivated by terrorist propaganda and resentment of
U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly
said police had to move quickly to arrest Pimentel on Saturday because
he was ready to carry out his plan.


"He was in fact putting this bomb together,"
Kelly said. "He was drilling holes and it would have been not
appropriate for us to let him walk out the door with that bomb."


His lawyer Joseph Zablocki said his client's
behavior leading up to the arrest was not that of a conspirator trying
to conceal some violent scheme. Zablocki said Pimentel was public about
his activities and was not trying to hide anything.


"I don't believe that this case is nearly as
strong as the people believe," Zablocki said. "He (Pimentel) has this
very public online profile. ... This is not the way you go about
committing a terrorist attack."


Authorities characterized him in a different
way. The unemployed U.S. citizen was born in the Dominican Republic and
later converted to Islam. They said he was energized and motivated to
carry out his plan by the Sept. 30 killing of Al Qaeda's U.S.-born
cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.


"He decided to build the bomb August of this
year, but clearly he jacked up his speed after the elimination of
al-Awlaki," Kelly said.


He plotted to bomb police patrol cars and
postal facilities, targeted soldiers returning home from abroad, and
also talked of bombing a police station in New Jersey, authorizes said.


New York police had him under surveillance
for at least a year and were working with a confidential informant; no
injury to anyone or damage to property is suspected, Kelly said. In
addition, authorities have no evidence that Pimentel was working with
anyone else.


"He appears to be a total lone wolf," Mayor
Michael Bloomberg said. "He was not part of a larger conspiracy
emanating from abroad."


Pimentel, also known as Muhammad Yusuf, was
denied bail. The bearded, bespectacled man smiled at times during the
proceeding. His mother and brother attended the arraignment, his lawyer
said.


Pimentel was accused of having an explosive
device Saturday when he was arrested, one he planned to use against
others and property. The charges accuse him of conspiracy going back at
least to October 2010 and include first-degree criminal possession of a
weapon as a crime of terrorism, and soliciting support for a terrorist
act.


Kelly said a confidential informant had
numerous conversations with Pimentel on Sept. 7 in which he expressed
interest in building small bombs and targeting banks, government and
police buildings.


Pimentel also posted on his website
trueislam1.com and on blogs his support of Al Qaeda and belief in jihad,
and promoted an online magazine article that described in detail how to
make a bomb, Kelly said.


Among his Internet postings, the
commissioner said, was an article that states: "People have to
understand that America and its allies are all legitimate targets in
warfare."


New York City remains a prime terrorist
target a decade after the Sept. 11 attack. Bloomberg said there have
been at least 14 foiled plots against the city, including the latest
suspected scheme. The most serious threats came from Pakistani immigrant
Faisal Shahzad who tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square in 2010
and is now serving a life sentence, and Najibullah Zazi, who targeted
the subway system a year earlier. Zazi pleaded guilty to federal
terrorism charges and is awaiting sentencing.


Asked why federal authorities were not
involved in the case, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.
said there was communication with them but his office felt that given
the timeline "it was appropriate to proceed under state charges."


Alexis Smith, 22, who lives in an apartment
in the same building as Pimentel, said she was shocked that he was a
suspect in a terrorist plot. "He was always very courteous to us," she
said, adding that Pimentel helped her carry groceries and luggage into
the building.


"It's nice to know he was only working alone," she said.
Source

He's just one idiot...No point in investigating

as long as the wont be a nuke im happy.