Home-Grown Jihad, Episode #253

A suspected Islamic terrorist was arrested yesterday for planning to launch a jihad attack in New York City and environs. His name was Jose Pimentel before he converted to Islam and decided to become a holy warrior, when he became Osama Hussein in honor of his two heroes (his second hero was Saddam Hussein, and not the current President of the United States).

According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Mr. Hussein had been inspired by Al Qaeda and Anwar Al-Awlaki, and had been planning for more than a year to launch bomb attacks on returning soldiers, the police, and government officials. New York City’s counterterrorism unit had had him under surveillance for the past year, and arrested him yesterday when he came close to building a working bomb.

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video of Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference earlier this evening. One of the striking things about what these officials have to say is that it includes the I-word and the J-word — which would not have occurred if the federal government had been running the show:


Here’s a brief article from The New York Times on the arrest of the suspected would-be bomber. Notice that it doesn’t mention Mr. Pimentel’s new name, nor Islam, nor jihad:

Man Arrested and Charged in New York City Bomb Plot

The authorities have arrested a man who law enforcement officials believe was planning to build and detonate a bomb in New York with government workers, returning military personnel and elected officials as the target, two people briefed on the case said on Sunday.

Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly of the New York Police Department announced the charges against the man at a Sunday evening news conference at City Hall.

The man was arrested within the last 24 hours.

The defendant in the case, identified as Jose Pimentel, 27, had bought bomb-making materials and “began to build them,” said one person briefed on the case, who added that the Police Department had had the man under surveillance for about a year.