Faisal Shahzad, who faces charges of planting a failed car bomb in Times Square with the backing of the Pakistani Taliban, appeared in court yesterday for the first time since his May 3 arrest.
Shahzad, wearing a gray prison uniform, was led into a fifth-floor courtroom in the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan on a day when it was reported that he had a list of several other targets around the city he considered bombing.
During the 10 minute arraignment on five counts, including attempted terrorism and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, he did not enter a plea and kept his eyes downcast in a room packed with reporters.
Earlier civil rights attorney Ron Kuby had accused authorities of “squeezing information” from Shahzad by keeping him in an undisclosed location without a public court appearance.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said Shahzad waived his right to a court appearance while cooperating with investigators and “has provided valuable information from which further investigative action has been taken.”
The onetime Connecticut resident and naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested at JFK Airport after boarding a flight to Dubai. He faces life in prison.
