AJC Applauds NYPD for Thwarting Bomb Plot

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Nov 21, 2011, 02:46 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC applauded the New York City Police Department for thwarting a plot to blow up police stations, post offices and U.S. soldiers in the city.

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"We are profoundly grateful for the New York City Police Department's tireless efforts, which prevented another potentially deadly terror attack on U.S. soil," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "The accused terrorist is a naturalized U.S. citizen and a convert to Islam. He was apparently influenced by radical Islamic leaders in the Middle East. This incident is another sobering reminder that, ten years after the 9/11 attacks, constant vigilance remains key to our collective security."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that Jose Pimentel, 27, an unemployed U.S. citizen and a native of the Dominican Republic, was a "lone wolf," inspired by al-Qaeda propaganda, but not part of an international conspiracy. He was "motivated by his own resentment of the presence of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan," Bloomberg said.

Pimentel was under police surveillance for more than two years, and arrested over the weekend when assembling several pipe bombs.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee