New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has defied the more careful statements of NYC mayor Bill de Blasio, calling the bombing in Manhattan an “act of terrorism”, while also stating that there did not appear to be any evidence that it was linked to any international group like ISIS.
.@NYGovCuomo: No link to international terrorism, but a bomb exploding in NY is “obviously an act of terrorism” https://t.co/smb1zdp0xR
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 18, 2016
“A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism, but it’s not linked to international terrorism. In other words, we find no ISIS connection, et cetera,” said Cuomo.
“We have no reason to believe at this time that there is any further immediate threat,” he continued.
The bomb exploded in a dumpster outside the Townhouse Inn in Chelsea, at around 8:30pm on Saturday. 29 people were wounded in the explosion – at least one seriously – but all are expected to make a recovery.
The New York Post today reports, courtesy of apparent sources in the New York law enforcement community, that a 911 call was placed at the time of the bombing by an unidentified male who promised further explosions. “I’m looking at the explosion down the block. There will be more,” the caller reportedly said.
A second bomb – in the form of a crude device fashioned from a pressure cooker – was found on 27th Street, but it was dealt with by a bomb squad and did not detonate.
Malcolm Turnbull, who is in New York City, spoke to reporters in Central Park and praised the resolve of New Yorkers. “We don’t know what the motivations were,” Turnbull said.
“But it was clearly a deliberate explosion.”
“The one thing we can’t do is let people who seek to do us harm, whatever their motivations may be, to coward us. We defy them by going about our lives in the normal way.”
Source: News.com.au.
Photo: Getty Images.
