While reports on Wednesday night suggested that the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, planned to head to New York after their bombing in order to “party,” newer information suggests that their party may have involved bombing Times Square. Yesterday, New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that the two had planned to “party,” and added, “There is some information that they may have been intent to come to New York but not to continue what they were doing. The information we received [from interrogating Dzhokhar] is something about a party – having a party. Something to the effect of coming to party in New York.”
But on Thursday, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told Megyn Kelly of Fox News that police actually think that the Tsarnaev brothers wanted to set off bombs in Times Square. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Kelly are scheduled to hold a press conference early Thursday afternoon.
UPDATE: On Thursday afternoon, Bloomberg stated that he had been informed by the FBI that the brothers did indeed intend to bomb Times Square. “We now know that that possibility was all too real,” Bloomberg said. The surviving attacker admitted that he and his brother intended to drive to New York and intended to detonate additional explosives in Times Square. “They had built these additional explosives,” Bloomberg added.
Bloomberg used the opportunity to call for a more extensive camera network in New York City. “We don’t know if we would have been able to stop the terrorists,” said Bloomberg. “We’re just thankful we didn’t have to find out that answer.”
Bloomberg then thanked President Obama and Janet Napolitano for supposedly recognizing the necessity for funding for Homeland Security.
Kelly explained that the brothers were stopped in their efforts when the car they carjacked turned out to be low on gas, necessitating that they stop at a gas station — a stop at which the victim of the carjacking escaped, leading to the chase that resulted in the death of Tamerlan and the capture of Dzhokhar.
UPDATE II: Kelly said that the first interrogation of Dzhokhar revealed the “party” comments. That interrogation happened Saturday evening to Sunday morning. The second interrogation, which revealed the Tsarnaevs’ alleged plans to bomb Times Square, took place Sunday evening to Monday morning.
Bloomberg told the press with regard to his security camera proposals that “there are no guarantees. All we can do is do everything that we can …. the public has a right to expect us to keep them safe to the extent humanly possible.”
The brothers were in Times Square in April 2012, as well as November, Kelly stated. There were pictures of the brothers from that time.
UPDATE III: The NYPD says that Boston suspects had another pressure cooker bomb, as well as 5 pipe bombs when they headed for Times Square.
Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).