NEW YORK—Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., announced on Sunday night the arrest of a suspect identified as Jose Pimentel, 27, of Washington Heights on charges of possession of an explosive device and intent to use it in a terrorist act.
Pimentel spent most of his life in Manhattan, said Kelly, moving up to Schenectady for five years and recently moving back to New York City, following his ex-wife who moved to the city after their split.
He had read a lot of Jihadist materials online and especially idolized Anwar al-Awlaki, who was a Yemeni-American imam and recruiter for Al-Qaeda. Al-Awlaki called for a jihad against the United States and was killed by American troops in Yemen on Sept. 30.
Pimentel was already planning to build a bomb in August, though the death of al-Awlaki caused his actions to become more “intense,” said Kelly.
Pimentel allegedly planned to test the bomb on a mailbox outside of New York City, and then use similar explosives to target military personnel returning home, police cars, and post offices in Manhattan.
Among the ingredients in his homemade bomb were sugar and the flammable material scraped off of approximately 700 matches. A photo of Pimentel scraping the matches was found in his apartment.
Pimentel does not have any ties with international organizations, according to NYPD and FBI intelligence, although he did allegedly try to contact al-Awlaki and join him in Yemen. He is a classic example of the “lone wolf” terrorist, said Kelly.
The NYPD has “been involved with this individual since 2009,” reported the commissioner. “We had to work quickly yesterday, because he was in fact putting this bomb together.”
