Yes, it’s the latest in a long line of completely unrelated incidents in which terrorists attempt violence even though they’re Muslims. NYT:
A Manhattan man who became fascinated by the American-born Muslim militant Anwar al-Awlaki was arrested on charges of plotting to build and detonate bombs in New York, city officials announced on Sunday night.
At a hastily called City Hall news conference, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, who appeared alongside Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., said the man, Jose Pimentel, 27, had begun in August to plot a bomb attack. But it was the death of Mr. Awlaki, who was killed in a drone strike in Yemen in September, that refocused his efforts, Mr. Kelly said.
Mr. Kelly said that Mr. Pimentel, a convert to Islam who was also known as Muhammad Yusuf, had been under police surveillance for more than two years and was arrested on Saturday after he had come close to completing at least three bombs.
Holes had been drilled into pipes, sulfur had been scraped off matches, nails were ready to be used as shrapnel, and wires were used to fashion an ignition device, according to a law enforcement official.
So they stopped him before was able to hurt anyone, but after the point where he’d be able to claim, “Aw, I was just joshin’.”
Bloomberg had better watch out. Between evicting the Occupiers and stopping yet another Muslim terrorist from blowing stuff up, he might start to get a reputation for being competent. And the NYT might get a rep for mentioning a terrorist’s motives, even if he’s a Muslim or a member of some other Designated Victim Group.
(Hat tip: Ed Morrissey)