What really happened when NYC was shut down for 6 hours?

[irishlover]

I mean really, a smoking car left running in Times Square, one of the most surveilled areas in the nation on a Saturday night? A t shirt vendor calls the police. The stuff isn't even a working bomb. Yet Times Square shut down for 6 hours. We're hearing they have prints and can find the VIN number. OK, then what? Another fake anthrax accusation years after the fact?

I don't think this is what it appears to be on the surface. Call me crazy,and people here will, but if anyone wanted to seriously hurt some people this way, it'd have happened. What is this really about and what else was going on during those six hours?

And yeah, I hesitated to post this but it just doesn't make any sense no matter how I look at it. Who would risk the ton of government hurt piling on just to pull a prank or "make a statement"?

[Mr Rabble]

1. I thought this as well.

In fact, it seems rather obvious that this is not what it seems.

"They" went through the trouble of removing the VIN, but couldnt figure out how to detonate a bomb?

Really.

[stray cat]

2. Not all would be bombers are rocket scientists - if they were more people would be dead

in more terrorist attacks

[virgogal]

3. Aaaah jeesh,another conspiracy theory.

[uppityperson]

4. Are you saying this was a distraction from the "main event"?

[DJ13]

5. Maybe a distraction from a real event we'll never hear about?

Real terrorism isnt fought in front of live TV.

Just thinking out loud.

[spanone]

6. who would strap on a bomb and shrapnel and blow themselves up?

some folks will do anything to 'make a statement'

[Turbineguy]

7. Don't you know what happened during those 6 hours?

Obama took away all the guns. And he conjured up the perfect alibi, as 3000 people had dinner with him.

[Cleita]

8. Remember that NYC suffered the most from the 9/11 attacks.

It would make sense that there would be an overreaction or erring on the side of caution. I don't blame them a bit.

[scarletwoman]

9. Conspiracist nonsense. This is the kind of crap right wingers are pushing.

The police are already on the trail of some white guy in his 40s. This incident is most likely going to come down to nothing more than some nutjob with a bug up his ass, and closing off Times Square (NOT the whole of NYC as in your hyperbolic subject line) for several hours is completely within the norm of standard police procedure in ANY bomb scare incident.

I hate having to kick your crap post by responding to it, but I'm not about to put up with seeing this kind of idiocy posted on DU and not calling it out for the bullshit that it is.

[Warpy]

10. Rubbish. They will get the guy

because making a bad timer isn't his only mistake.

Everybody in his area will then tell reporters about how they always knew he had a major screw loose.

His choice of reading and listening material will be kept a deep, dark secret.

This is exactly what it appears to be, someone or a group of people hopped up on so much hate they're willing to murder strangers

[Garbo 2004]

11. NYC was shut down? How about a few blocks at Time Square. Big difference.

The whole city wasn't "shut down" or grind to a halt.

"If anyone wanted to seriously hurt some people this way, it'd have happened." The Unabomber (even he had a learning curve) and the Columbine killers come readily to mind as examples of people who indeed intended serious harm but who had devices misfire and/or not do as much damage as intended. So ineptitude in execution is not necessarily a gauge of intent.

I doubt it was simply an elaborate "prank" but there are people stupid and/or crazy enough to do all sorts of things, whatever the potential consequences to themselves or others. As for "making statements," there are a variety of examples where people have risked and received a "ton of gov't hurt" for doing so in an illegal manner. For example, there are people who still commit anthrax hoaxes, make threats against public figures, or plant pipe bombs that may or may not go off, despite the potential of serious criminal penalties and publicized convictions of others who have done the same.

[WeDidIt]

12. Same guys who did the 9/11 inside job did this one!

:tinfoilhat:

:crazy:

Tinfoilhat nuttery is unbecoming. Seriously, there are NO government mind control rays.

[irishlover]

13. Guys, I get it about conspiracy. That's not what I'm saying

My fault I said NYC instead of Times Square. Agree there are nutjobs who are incompetent and can't pull this kind of thing off. I just cannot understand why only one other person is wondering the same. It takes a lot to kill people you don't know in this way; think McVeigh. Yet this was not a federal building, just random targeted people with a poorly thought out plan. I was glad to see the quick response and competent process that followed. You just cannot trust media reports on an incident and move on. I just want to know the backstory.