THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2008
NEWS
5A
CRIME
Man sends pictures, claims to be bomber
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON Police are investigating letters that arrived Thursday at Capitol Hill offices 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, according to a Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation. The photo was the kind commonly sent as a holiday greeting card.
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.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of an e-mail from the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calf), 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
A man sent photos of himself to members of Congress, claiming responsibility for a Times Square bombing. It included a political manifesto opposing the war in Iraq and a booklet.
Postal inspectors were at the Capitol investigating the letters alongside Capitol Police, U.S. Postal Inspection Service spokesman Douglas Bem said. He had no details about the letters' content. A second law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing, confirmed some of their contents as described by the Democratic aide.
Authorities advised the recipients to leave the letters alone and call
police, the e-mail says.
The man was thin, white with graying hair, wearing a striped flannel shirt and jeans, according to the Democratic aide.
The small bomb caused minor damage to the New York military recruiting station before dawn Thursday and police were searching for a hooded bicyclist seen on a surveillance video pedaling away.
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."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mush, mush!
Jessie Royer, of Fairbanks, Alaska, drives her team out of the Takotna, Alaska, checkpoint during the Idaitan Trail Sled Dog Race on Thursday.
Student arrested for making pipe bombs
CRIME
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAVIS, Calif. — A student was arrested Thursday after two partially assembled pipe bombs were found in a dormitory room at the University of California, Davis, authorities said.
Hundreds of students were forced to evacuate their dorms overnight as a precaution but authorities said there was no imminent danger of explosions and no evidence of terrorism.
After questioning four stu
investigators say there is nothing to indicate that this case was related to a terrorist act," a university statement said. "The investigation is continuing."
dents, police arrested 18-year-old Mark Woods, a freshman economics major from Torrance. University spokeswoman Lisa Lapin said he has been cooperating with authorities. No other arrests were expected.
Woods was being held on possession of materials with the intent to make an explosive or destructive device and other charges and possession with intent to make such a device on school grounds. "Police
Police became aware of the situation Wednesday night after a woman reported that students had possible
"Police investigators say there is nothing to indicate that this case was related to a terrorist act."
explosive devices.
Two partially assembled pipe bombs were found in Woods' dorm room, Lapin said. She said a roommate said he was curious and liked to experiment but was a serious student and would
Press Statement University of California, Davis
have had no criminal intent.
More than 450 students had to spend the night in dining halls or at the homes of family and friends. But with no imminent danger of explosions, police waited until Thursday morning to get a search warrant, which requires a judge's signature. Classes were not canceled.
The students were expected to be let back into their dorm rooms later Thursday morning, Lapin said.
CRIME
Bomb hits Times Square recruiting office
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York City police officers with the bomb squad unit inspect the damage done by an explosive device to the military recruitment center on Thursday in New York's Times Square. Authorities also say there were no injuries in the blast early Thursday morning, but the recruiting center at 43rd Street near Broadway had a large hole in the front window.
BY TOM HAYS ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — For the third time in as many years, someone riding a bike and armed with a small explosive has struck in Manhattan, this time in the highest-profile location by far: a landmark military recruitment station in the heart of Times Square.
The bomb, contained in a metal ammunition box, produced a sudden flash and billowing cloud of white smoke at about 3:40 a.m. Thursday — a scene captured by numerous security video cameras. When the smoke cleared, there were no injuries, serious damage nor clear indication of motive.
But like similar attacks on the British and Mexican consulates, the explosion frayed nerves of New Yorkers and tourists alike. Although authorities have not definitively linked the three attacks, the latest episode heightened speculation that they were the work of a lone bomber who, perhaps emboldened by his past success, sought out the bright lights of Times Square.
"Times Square is 'the crossroads of the world' and we're concerned about it," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a news conference where the NYPD released a video of the shadowy figure on a bicycle.
response, left a gaping hole in the front window and shattered a glass door, twisting and blackening the metal frame of the building. Guests at the nearby Marriott Marquis said they heard a "big bang" and felt the building
The blast prompted a huge police
bike just outside the recruitment center. About two minutes later, the cyclist rode away. Then the explosion occured.
"Whoever the coward was that committed this disgraceful act on our city will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Investigators were studying other security videos, including one showing a man exiting a subway station about 10 blocks away car-
"I thought it could have been thunder," said Terry Leighton, 49, a Londoner staying on the 21st floor. "I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke."
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG New York City mayor
felt the building shake.
The private security video, though too murky for police to get a clear description of the cyclist, shows a figure riding along a traffic island in the glow of neon signs at about 3:38 a.m and getting off the
covers all early crying a bicycle, police said. The FBI was analyzing forensic evidence collected at the scene, Kelly said.
just a few blocks from the blast, and the sighting of a man spotted on a bike near the scene moments before the explosion.
The commissioner cited other possible clues: A new bike discovered at about 7 a.m. in a Dumpster
The man caught the attention of a witness because he was riding slowly, wearing a backpack and a hooded jacket, Kelly said. The witness, who was buying a newspaper at the time, said because of the hood, the rider's face "was pretty much covered."
The blast bears a striking resemblance to the two consulate explosions.
In October, two small explosive devices were tossed over a fence at the Mexican consulate, shattering some windows; police said they believed someone on a bicycle threw the devices.
At the time, police said they were investigating whether it was connected to a nearly identical incident at the British consulate on May 5, 2005. No one was arrested in either incident.
In those incidents, "dummy hand grenades were used and the explosive, black powder, was put into those grenades and that caused the explosion," Kelly said. "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, noting they were readily available in Army-Navy surplus stores.
In another sign that the three blasts are related, all of them occurred between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m.
But the previous episodes generated nowhere near the response that the Times Square blast did. Kelly, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the top FBI official in New York appeared at a nationally televised news conference in Times Square, and presidential candidates issued statements condemning the blast.
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 military's 1,600 recruiting stations nationwide were alerted and advised to use extra caution, said Douglas Smith, spokesman for the Army recruiting command. He said New York recruiters would be working temporarily out of their Union Square office.
The military has had a recruiting presence in Times Square since the 1940s.
The current version of the station, built around eight years ago for $1.5 million, was designed to fit into the revitalized Times Square area with American flags.
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