Times Square: Inspired by bin Laden, planned bombing, officials say

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Around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks of last year, Ashiqul Alam expressed admiration for their brain, Osama bin Laden, and said he wanted to continue the legacy of bin Laden's violent extremism, court documents said.

"He did what he is supposed to do," said Mr. Alam, 22, following a criminal complaint. "Now, it's up to us."

This sentiment, expressed to an undercover law enforcement officer, sparked a series of conversations about a possible terrorist attack in New York. This eventually led to the arrest of Mr. Alam on Thursday, authorities said.

Mr Alam, a green card holder from Bangladesh who lives in Queens, was arrested after trying to buy two Glock guns bearing altered serial numbers to an undercover officer, officials said.

His arrest was the culmination of several months of work involving three undercover agents and several law enforcement agencies, who had begun to monitor him last August, authorities said.

In meetings with undercover agents for more than 10 months, Mr. Alam spoke of the possibility of suicide bombings in Washington or Times Square. He added that he wanted to kill a government official, shoot police officers with AR-15 assault rifles and fire a rocket launcher at the new World Trade Center, the criminal complaint announced.

Despite his intentions, he posed no immediate threat, officials said. All the while, the security forces were monitoring his plans and intervening to prevent them from escalating into deadly violence, "said Richard P. Donoghue, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement. a statement.

Two law enforcement officials, who requested that their names not be published because they were not allowed to discuss the case, called Mr. Alam's statements aspiratory.

Alam was formally charged on Friday in the Federal District Court in Brooklyn for buying guns with erased serial numbers. He has not been charged with terrorism-related crimes.

During his hearing, he was silent while his lawyer, James Darrow, requested his client's bail.

"He has two jobs and is a student," said Darrow. "He would like to continue doing that."

Judge Magistrate Cheryl L. Pollak ordered her detention on a permanent basis, citing the seriousness of the accusations and calling it a "danger to the community".

Mr. Alam's investigation began last August, when he met with an undercover officer, the complaint said. Between the first meeting and his arrest, he repeatedly stated his interest in the purchase of weapons and explosives for a terrorist attack in New York. He also expressed admiration for the terrorist groups, including ISIS and Al Qaeda, according to the complaint.

Last September, for example, he told an undercover agent that Bin Laden's violent extremist mission during the September 11 attacks was "a complete success," according to the complaint.

Accompanied by an undercover agent, he made several reconnaissance "visits" to Times Square, using his mobile phone to record the area while searching for potential targets, the complaint said.

The recognition was crucial, Mr. Alam told the agents, as it would need to be prepared, the complaint said. "Like in a war," he explained.

In January, while he was going to a shooting range, Mr. Alam told an undercover officer that he wanted to "die fighting", according to the complaint. On their return trip, he said that he wanted to buy a gun.

The same month, he stated that he would probably use this weapon as part of an attack on Times Square, particularly that of Duffy Square, where tourists congregate around a red staircase and of the TKTS booth, the complaint said.

In subsequent meetings, Mr. Alam continued to tell the officer that he wanted to buy firearms, officials said.

In March, an undercover agent asked Mr. Alam what would make him happy, the complaint said. Mr. Alam responded: "See the flag of Islam on the Twin Towers or the Empire State Building."

The following month, Mr. Alam announced that he had surgery for Lasik eye surgery, which justified the procedure by referring to his hypothetical attack, according to the complaint.

"Let's say we're in an attack, okay, let's say my glasses are falling," he told an undercover officer. "What if I accidentally shoot you?"

"Imagine how the news channel would call me," he added. "The terrorist" Looney Tunes "or the" blind terrorist ".

Mr. Alam's neighbors in the seven-story apartment complex, which he had made his home in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, described him as a ruthless young man who was trying to to project a powerful image.

Mohammed Islam, 18, said one of the things Alam was worried about was his march: a macho leg that was planning an attack.

Otherwise, Mr. Alam was "very quiet," said Mr. Islam. "Whenever I saw him, he was alone."

Islam said he saw between 10 and 15 federal agents entering Mr. Alam's fifth-floor apartment on Thursday. They were carrying rifles and wearing vests, he said.

The agents went in and out of Mr. Alam's apartment for about three hours, Islam said.

The busy and crowded tourist area around Times Square in Midtown Manhattan has been the scene of several attempted attacks in recent years.

In 2017, a man blew up a Artisan bomb in the crowded subway corridor that connects the busy port terminal of the Port Authority to Times Square. The bomb blast terrorized the commuters but the only person seriously injured was the one who had set it up.

The driver, Richard Rojas, was accused of murder and attempted murder. He told a police officer that he had smoked marijuana with PCP, or angel dust, the day of the deadly rampage, according to the lawsuit filed against him.