Its certainly not a good time for Pakistanis in US whether they are innnocent or are anyway linked to the people who are actually bad guyz. More raids for pakis continue and I really dont see it getting stopped anywhere soon.
NYtimes is reporting more raids around tristate area.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/nyregion/14terror.html?hp
F.B.I. Arrests 3 in Raids Linked to Times Sq. Bomb Case
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and SCOTT SHANE
Published: May 13, 2010
Federal authorities raided a half-dozen locations in Long Island, New Jersey and the Boston area early Thursday morning and took three people into custody as part of the investigation into the failed Times Square car bombing, which Obama administration officials have said was aided and directed by the Pakistani Taliban.
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**[http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/multimedia/icons/video_icon.gif
Video: Raid in Watertown, Mass.](http://www.boston.com/video/viral_page/?/services/player/bcpid6936117001&bclid=1214007415&bctid=85432424001) (Boston.com)**
- Times Topic: Times Square Bomb Attempt (May 1, 2010)
The searches did not represent a “big break” in the case, said a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation, but were part of an effort to pursue leads involving the financing of the May 1 attempted bombing, in which a naturalized Pakistani immigrant drove an S.U.V. packed with gasoline, propane, fertilizer and firecrackers into Times Square and left it smoldering with its hazard lights flashing when it failed to detonate.
Statements from the office of the United States attorney in Manhattan and the Boston F.B.I. office said the actions “do not relate to any known immediate threat to the public or active plot against the United States” and were undertaken based on evidence that was gathered in the investigation that followed the car bomb attempt.
“We can confirm that search warrants have been executed in several locations in the Northeast in connection with the investigation into the attempted Times Square bombing,” said the statements, released by the office of Warren Bamford, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Boston office, and the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan.
The statement from Mr. Bharara’s office said three people who were encountered by the agents as they executed the warrants were taken into custody for suspected immigration violations.
Later on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Bharara said that the Pakistani-American, Faisal Shahzad, who has been providing information to agents and prosecutors since his arrest late on the night of May 3, has continued to do so.
“Faisal Shahzad is still cooperating and still being interviewed by agents,” said Mr. Bharara, who was leading a news conference in White Plains, N.Y., on an unrelated case. He added that agents and detectives from the Joint Terrorism Task Force “are still getting all the information we can in regard to any and all associates he may have.”
Mr. Shahzad 30, who has been charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in the Times Square bomb attempt, has waived his right to remain silent and his right to a speedy appearance before a judge each day since his arrest, Mr. Bharara said, a process in which he signs a waiver form.
“Mr. Shahzad will be brought to court at the appropriate time,” Mr. Bharara said.
The five-count criminal complaint charging him says he admitted driving a Nissan Pathfinder with the crude explosive device into Times Square; it also says he told federal authorities that he was trained to build bombs in Pakistan.
Mr. Shahzad, a former financial analyst from Bridgeport, Conn., who attended the University of Bridgeport, has told investigators that he acted alone in putting the explosive components into a Nissan Pathfinder and driving it to Times Square. Federal authorities do not expect to charge anyone else with terrorism as of midmorning Thursday, according to the official briefed on the investigation.
“We’re gathering information and following leads in terms of people who may have provided money to Shahzad, or knowingly or unknowingly helped him,” said the official, who would speak about the investigation only on the condition of anonymity.
Agents conducted searches in the Boston area, in Watertown and Brookline, and at two locations on Long Island, one in Centereach. Agents from the Philadelphia F.B.I. office conducted searches in Camden and Cherry Hill, N.J., according to a spokesman for that office, J. J. Klaver.
But much remained unclear about the searches, including precisely why the warrants were executed, and what evidence the federal authorities were seeking. Noting that the warrants were under court seal, Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the Justice Department in Washington, declined to discuss the actions.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has said the Pakistani Taliban helped bring about the bombing attempt; investigators are said to be pursuing leads based on the information provided by Mr. Shahzad.
On Thursday morning, Mr. Holder, in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, cited the searches and underscored that there was no immediate threat.
“We are currently working with the authorities in Pakistan on this investigation, and we will use every resource available to make sure that anyone found responsible, whether they be in the United States or overseas, is held accountable,” he said.
The searches in New Jersey were focused on the same man, whose home and business, a printing press sales company, were both searched, according to one person briefed on the matter.
The house that was searched in Watertown is across the street from the local middle school, and next door to a housing development for the elderly on a tree-lined street of mostly two-family homes. The white vinyl siding on the small, rectangular structure was caked with dirt and streaked with rust stains, and the shingles on the roof appeared tattered and in generally poor repair.
Neighbors said about 15 to 20 F.B.I. agents with guns drawn approached the house between 6:15 and 6:30 a.m. Sirens blared, helicopters circled overhead and agents yelled, “F.B.I.! Don’t move!” and “F.B.I.! Put your hands up!”
“When I looked out the window they all had their guns pointed at the house,” said Barbara Lacerra, who lives across the street. Fifteen minutes later, according to her husband, Vincent Lacerra, two agents went into the house.
Later, agents wearing raid jackets from Immigration and Customs Enforcement could be seen leading a handcuffed man to an unmarked car.
“They had him in handcuffs and shackles,” said Mrs. Lacerra. “He was very calm and had his head down.”
She said she also saw agents take computers out of the house.
Another neighbor, who would not give his name, said two men “with connections to Pakistan” have lived in the top floor of the house for a few months. The neighbor said he had seen law enforcement officials conducting surveillance at the house for about a week.
The men who live there are automobile mechanics, the neighbor said, and often tinkered with a Honda in the driveway behind the house. One works at a Mobil station in Brookline, he said.
The statement from the Boston F.B.I. office said the bureau could provide no further details, citing the ongoing investigation. The New York F.B.I. office also declined to comment.
Charlie Savage contributed reporting from Washington; Al Baker, Kitty Bennett and Kareem Fahim from New York; Karen Zraick from Centereach, N.Y.; Nate Schweber from White Plains, N.Y.; and Katie Zezima from Watertown, Mass.