New York - A New York man was charged with
illegally acquiring firearms as part of a plan to attack Times
Square, one of midtown Manhattan's most crowded crossroads,
federal officials said on Friday.
Ashiqul Alam, 22, from Jackson Heights in the city's Queens
borough, was arrested on Thursday after receiving two Glock 19
nine millimeter semi-automatic pistols with their serial numbers
stripped off from undercover law enforcement officers, according
to a complaint unsealed on Friday in Brooklyn federal court.
During meetings with an undercover federal agent, Alam
expressed support for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York as
well as the militant group Islamic State, according to the
complaint. He also discussed using an explosive suicide vest in
an attack.
"As alleged, Ashiqul Alam bought illegal weapons as part of
his plan to kill law enforcement officers and civilians in a
terrorist attack on Times Square,” U.S. Attorney Richard
Donoghue, whose office brought the charges, said in a statement.
Alam is expected to appear in U.S. District Court in
Brooklyn later on Friday.
With its millions of visitors each year, Times Square, often
called the crossroads of the world, has been targeted by at
least two bombers in recent years, despite its heavily-fortified
police presence.
On May 1, 2010, police thwarted an attempted car bomb in
Times Square, defusing a crude device made out of firecrackers
and propane gas tanks.
A Pakistani-born U.S. citizen pleaded guilty to the plot,
admitting that he had received bomb-making training from the
Pakistani Taliban and that the group, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan had funded the plot. He was sentenced to life in
prison.
In December 2017, a Bangladeshi man set off a homemade pipe
bomb strapped to his body in a crowded underground pedestrian
tunnel near Times Square. The man, Akayed Ullah, was convicted
of six criminal counts, including use of a weapon of mass
destruction and support of a terrorist organization.
On Friday morning, it was business as usual in Times Square,
with a bustle of people on their way to work and tourists
beginning to stream into the area.
Kate Fan, a 28-year-old charity worker visiting from her
home in Guangzhou, China, said that she heard about the incident
but still felt safe.
“We hear a lot of stories about New York being unsafe, but
we feel like people sometimes exaggerate safety issues,” she
said.