Holder: We Plan To Charge Shahzad With ‘Act Of Terrorism’

Attorney General Eric Holder
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Attorney General Eric Holder just announced that the U.S. plans to charge Times Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad with an “act of terrorism” and attempting to use “a weapon of mass destruction.”

Holder said Shahzad would also be hit with a variety of explosives charges.

Holder said Shahzad has already provided useful information to the authorities. “He has been talking to us,” Holder said. The attorney general also acknowledged that Shahzad had implicated himself.

“This investigation is ongoing and we continue to pursue a number of leads,” Holder said, adding that “FBI agents have been able to glean additional evidence from searching [Shahzad’s] car and home.”

We want to know as much as we can about his background, where he’s gone, what he’s done.

Holder said he has no reason to believe Shahzad’s case is related to the Najibullah Zazi case. What is clear, Holder said, is this:

It is clear that this is a terrorist plot aimed at murdering Americans in one of the busiest places in our country.

Though the car bomb attempt was unsuccessful, Holder cautioned that the attack could have caused ‘death and destruction in the heart of New York City.”

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the big break in the case came when a detective discovered a hidden VIN number under Shahzad’s Nissan Pathfinder. The vehicle’s license plate had been swapped, and the VIN number had been removed from the dashboard. But a detective was able to identify the vehicle when he found a hidden VIN number under the Pathfinder.

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