Suspect admitted role in Times Square plot, Holder says - CNN.com
I find this more than a little troubling:
FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said that Shahzad was on the federal “no fly” list, which helped Customs and Border Protection agents to arrest him.
So uh, how exactly did this dude get to be about 5 minutes from flying out of the country? He made it through ticketing, security, customs and got onto the plane and the plane had pushed back from the gate. How did he even get a boarding pass??
And this is when the airports should have been on heightened alert for such a guy attempting to escape, and you’d think they might be watching flights to Pakistan a little closer than most given the circumstances and things we already knew.
Good to know that no-fly list is working out. It seems as if this guy was nabbed in despite of the no-fly list, not because of it, which is really horrible.
Update: Looks like they added him to the list not too long before he purchased the 1-way ticket, with cash the day of the flight. He still got his ticket and boarded, which is troubling. Looks like the only reason they caught him is because a sharp-eyed custom’s agent recognized the name:
She credited Customs officials for recognizing Shahzad’s name on a passenger manifest and stopping the flight.