Car bomb in Times Square
May 1, 2010 8:27 PM   Subscribe

Police evacuated Times Square tonight after popping sounds and smoke from a parked SUV sparked a bomb scare. The vehicle was found to contain explosives, gasoline, propane and burned wires.
posted by EarBucket (20 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Nothing is actually happening happening as far as I can tell; maybe wait until there's actually some substantial news out of this, if any, before we do a post. -- cortex



 
The NYPD should require all Pathfinders to prove their U.S. citizenship before they can enter Manhattan. Especially those with, ahem, y'know *whispers* Connecticut plates.
posted by jardinier at 8:32 PM on May 1, 2010 [4 favorites]


Lovely. How much do you want to bet this was done by some sort of internal terrorist organization.

At least no one was hurt.
posted by 517 at 8:33 PM on May 1, 2010


Congratulations on it being a near miss, NY. Hope the fuckers responsible can be rounded up, tried and then hung up by their balls.
posted by Artw at 8:33 PM on May 1, 2010


In hindsight, that ASK ME ABOUT MY CAR BOMB bumper sticker should have been a dead giveaway.
posted by Bromius at 8:34 PM on May 1, 2010 [6 favorites]


"A federal official said that it was not considered a terrorist threat and that the New York Police Department had told the Department of Homeland Security to stand down."

How is a car with explosives and burning wires in the middle of times square not a terrorist threat?
posted by Cyclopsis Raptor at 8:35 PM on May 1, 2010 [8 favorites]


How is a car with explosives and burning wires in the middle of times square not a terrorist threat?

Um, yeah, what in the fuck?
posted by Artw at 8:37 PM on May 1, 2010


Wait for details, get the full story and then you'll find out.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:37 PM on May 1, 2010


Man how hard is it to set large quantities of flammable materials on fire? Are American terrorists really that uncompetitive in a global marketplace of political violence? Is it a NAFTA thing?

You need to outsource your spark-petrol-flames skills to fucking Guatemala, or Bangladesh, or something, because it's a bit embarrassing.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 8:39 PM on May 1, 2010 [4 favorites]


That's a weird fucking meth lab.
posted by Artw at 8:40 PM on May 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


Christ.
posted by nola at 8:44 PM on May 1, 2010


Lots of CCTV around there, at least
posted by Flashman at 8:46 PM on May 1, 2010


Weird. I'm guessing if they did a controlled explosion on it maybe it didn't have all those tanks of propane, gasoline etc... after all.
posted by Artw at 8:47 PM on May 1, 2010


How is a car with explosives and burning wires in the middle of times square not a terrorist threat?

That car was probably less of a threat than the "delivery vans" with no doors, blacked out windows and broken windshields that usually race through mid-town at 60 mph while the driver is looking around on the floor for a new 8-track to put in.
posted by jardinier at 8:47 PM on May 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


At some point you really have to wonder how dumb people are when they can't even blow up a car filled with explosives, propane and gasoline. I mean, I work cases every day where a random redneck blows himself up with propane. It seems like it's pretty simple to do even if you aren't trying. But to fail at it? That takes some work.
posted by sanka at 8:50 PM on May 1, 2010 [5 favorites]


Come on. It's easy to detonate propane and gasoline. It's considerably more difficult to detonate propane and gasoline in a controlled way with a remote trigger or a timed device.
posted by Justinian at 8:54 PM on May 1, 2010


If by "considerably more difficult" you mean as difficult as falling down, then sure.
posted by sanka at 8:56 PM on May 1, 2010


After reading this article, people also read:

* Police barred from penis enlargement


But, seriously, we have to wait until something more than an "off the record" report comes in before panicking. Hell, could be a bunch of stage fireworks and a gas can for all we know.
posted by edgeways at 8:56 PM on May 1, 2010


The Wall Street Journal article oddly mentioned that Oprah was nearby at the time.

(link may die if they update the story)
posted by Jahaza at 9:07 PM on May 1, 2010


It's considerably more difficult to detonate propane and gasoline in a controlled way with a remote trigger or a timed device.

I can think* of 10 different ways to do it just using crap in my office. One of them involves bittorrent.

* this is just a thought experiment. I have no intention of blowing shit up, controlled or otherwise without proper government authorization. You hear that secret government listeny people?
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 9:12 PM on May 1, 2010


How much do you want to bet this was done by some sort of internal terrorist organization.

Too early to say. McVeigh- and Bin Laden-wannabees both hate New York, liberals, and gays and if they bombed the theater district they'd get a trifecta.
posted by longdaysjourney at 9:13 PM on May 1, 2010


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