Faisal Shahzad Indicted for Attempted Times Square Car Bombing
Feds double charges, name Pakistani Taliban group that allegedly trained him.
June 17, 2010 — -- A federal grand jury in New York City indicted accused Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad on Thursday on 10 terror-related charges, double the number of criminal counts he originally faced. The new counts, which could land him in a federal prison for life, include a weapons charge and four new terror charges.
The 13-page indictment also includes new details about Shahzad's travels to Pakistan, and names the Pakistani terror group, Tehrik-e-Taliban, from which Shahzad allegedly received bomb training. The indictment also says that Shahzad received money from an unnamed coconspirator in Pakistan prior to the failed May 1 car bombing in midtown Manhattan.
"The facts alleged in this indictment show that the Pakistani Taliban facilitated Faisal Shahzad's attempted attack on American soil," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "Our nation averted serious loss of life in this attempted bombing, but it is a reminder that we face an evolving threat that we must continue to fight with every tool available to the government."
The indictment alleges that Shahzad received explosives training in Waziristan, Pakistan from "explosives trainers affiliated with Tehrik-e-Taliban." It accuses Shahzad of receiving $5,000 in Massachusetts sent by a coconspirator in Pakistan in February, and another $10,000 from the same coconspirator via New York. According to the indictment, Shahzad purchased a rifle in Connecticut in March that was found loaded in his car on the day of his arrest.
Shahzad was arrested on May 3, two days after the failed bombing, at New York's JFK airport as he was about to depart on a Dubai-bound flight.
Shahzad made his first court appearance on May 18, when he heard the original charges against him and twas assigned a public defender in an arraignment that lasted less than 10 minutes.
Before Shahzad entered court, the judge cleared the courtroom for a security sweep. Burly U.S. marshals in suits escorted Shahzad to his seat at the defense table where he appeared to listen attentively to federal magistrate Judge James Francis. He remained without handcuffs until he was led from the courtroom at the conclusion of the proceeding.
No Formal Plea Entered by Shahzad
Shahzad uttered a faint "yes" when the judge asked if his affidavit of financial insufficiency was correct, meaning that Shahzad could not afford private counsel. Judge Francis then appointed public defender Julia Gatto to represent him. Shahzad's only request of the judge was that he be provided with halal meals – food that follows Islamic dietary restrictions.
When the five felony counts against him were read, Shahzad did not enter a formal plea. He was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, using a destructive device, attempted terrorism, transporting explosives and attempting to destroy property with explosives. Shahzad was led out of the fifth-floor courtroom in handcuffs.
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Authorities tell ABC News Shahzad has provided a variety of motives for his mission -- that he was angry over friends killed in Pakistan by CIA missile strikes, that his personal life was in crisis -- even making a claim, according to one source, that he acted under duress-and agreed to carry out the attack only because he feared harm would come to his family back in Pakistan if he did not.
Authorities are skeptical of that, but also point out that he did not plan to take his own life, he ran away from the scene, and he made a series of bumbling errors that prevented the bomb from going off and allowed authorities to track him down.