NEW YORK — The man who planted a car bomb in Times Square boasted that he thought it would kill at least 40 people and that he planned to detonate a second bomb two weeks after the first, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Faisal Shahzad should get life in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 5, prosecutors said in a filing, arguing that he “had every intention of delivering a powerful and terrorizing strike to the heart of New York City.”
The government noted that Shahzad showed no remorse when he pleaded guilty on June 21 after confessing to investigators.
In fact, prosecutors wrote, “he spoke with pride about what he and his co-conspirators had done.”
Included in the government submission to the sentencing judge in U.S. District Court in Manhattan was a 40-minute video in which Shahzad fires a machine gun in what appears to be the mountains of Pakistan as he announces that he has met members of the Pakistan Taliban and has decided “we are going to raise an attack inside America.”
Through most of the first video, Shahzad is seated and quoting from the Koran but makes his intentions clear toward the end when he states: “I have been trying to join my brothers in jihad ever since 9/11 happened. I am planning to wage an attack inside America,” prosecutors said.
Front Section, Pages 9 on 09/30/2010