Appearing on MSNBC moments ago, Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano said the most disturbing part of the Times Square bomb scare is the “pattern” of U.S. citizens becoming radicalized and plotting attacks.
Asked by Savannah Guthrie about the most disturbing part of the Times Square case — in which naturalized U.S. citizen Faisal Shahzad has been charged — Napolitano answered:
It’s very consistent with a pattern that we’re beginning to see, which are individuals in the United States, U.S. citizens who have been living relatively peaceful lives, who somehow become radicalized to the point of violence and attack. And how this process works and how is the best way to interrupt it and intervene it is still a work in progress.
Napolitano downplayed a series of apparent fumbles that almost led to Shahzad getting away, saying “I think he would have been stopped in any event,” and that there are “multiple layers in place in case an airline had missed his name.”
She also lauded that the arrest was made in just 53 hours.
“It’s not Jack Bauer’s 24 hours, but it’s pretty darn close.”
