UPDATED: NYPD Arrests Bomb Suspect; US Citizen Followed al-Qaeda; His Mom Apologizes To New York

Jose Pimentel at
Manhattan criminal court,
Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011
Photo: Tom Hays, AP

Police say this surveillance 
photo shows Jose Pimentel
making a bomb

November 20, 2011 - New York City - Police arrested a man who allegedly planned to blow up police vehicles, post offices and U.S. soldiers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. A report by the Los Angeles Times says that NYPD said that one of his motives was to "protest U.S. military presence in those countries."

That man is Jose Pimentel, age 27, (photos, top) is a native of the Dominican Republic who was raised in Manhattan and converted to Islam. According to NYPD, Pimentel was in the process of constructing a pipe bomb when they arrested him. He had been on an FBI watch list for several years. See press conference video below; also see the press release from Mayor Bloomberg's office.

Authorities recently stepped up their surveillance of Pimentel after September 30. That's when Anwar Awlaki  was killed by a U.S. drone missile strike in Yemem. Pimentel is said to have been greatly influenced by Awlaki.  CBS News has posted the entire criminal complaint against Jose Pimentel.

According to a CBS report about Pimentel, "The complaint reveals the Pimentel made numerous incriminating statements to a confidential informant during a 12-month investigation. On Sept. 7, Pimentel allegedly told the informant he was interested building small bombs targeting government or police buildings and banks. Three weeks later, he allegedly gave the informant a flash drives containing two bomb-making manuals."

On Monday, November 21, Pimentel's mother actually apologized to New York for her son's alleged actions. New York Daily News quotes Carmen Sosa, 56, as saying, “I want to apologize to the City of New York,” and “I love the city. I’ve been here since 1987 and I’m very disappointed with what my son was doing. I didn’t raise him that way." She even praised the NYPD. “I feel very bad about the situation. I thank the police. They did what they’re supposed to do.”