Anarchist Buzz Concerns Intel Officials

Canadian Probe Continues, N.Y. Hunts for New Leads

U.S. and Canadian Authorities Meet to Go Over Evidence in the Times Square Bombing and a Vehicle Stop at the Canadian Border

By RICHARD ESPOSITO and PIERRE THOMAS, ABC News

March 7, 2008

Twenty-four hours after a gunpowder-packed ammunition case exploded at Times Square's military recruiting booth, authorities across the U.S. and Canada are concerned about an intelligence uptick on anarchist and anti-war activities, even as they actively hunt for the bomber and any links to five suspicious individuals stopped at the Canadian border about a month ago.

ABC News has learned that Canadian authorities and the FBI met in Canada

Friday to go over in detail evidence seized during that crossing and to

establish what, if any, initial, firm links can be made to the New York

bombing.

According to multiple senior officials from multiple agencies, a number of

early versions of the crossing and the materials seized were erroneous to

one degree or another, and this meeting would be the first in which all

the catalogued evidence would be reviewed.

"Five or six different versions have emerged," one participant in the

meeting said. "One of the purposes is to clear these up and get to the

facts." A disc containing images of all the evidence seized was given to

U.S. authorities at the meeting.

The pictures and other materials found in connection with the men stopped

in Canada may not ultimately be directly linked to the bombing, but they

represent part of what one senior official called "concentric, overlapping

circles" of anti-war protest, what another called "part of a buzz on an

anarchist uptick," and what still a third confirmed as a growing concern

to authorities.

The lengthy letter offering political advice sent to congressmen and a

picture of the Times Square recruiting center that ABC News has learned

the letter writer used as a Christmas card -- while ruled out as linked to

the bombing -- were also seen as an example of that uptick.

According to a senior law enforcement official involved in that part of

the investigation, the letter writer was "extremely cooperative," allowed

a consensual search of his home and provided information to authorities

that satisfied them that he was not involved and that he may have sent at

least 270 letters to members of Congress.

Officials in Los Angeles, where an anti-war protest is slated for next

weekend, are paying particularly close attention to any risk of activity

by a violent minority, sources said. In the past, violent anarchist

activists have sought to mar peaceful anti-war protests across the

country.

In New York, detectives and forensic experts working with the FBI

laboratory at Quantico, Va., continued to investigate leads in Thursday's

bombing based on evidence, including the explosive powder used, the

military-type ammo box and the use of a bicycle -- both to compare the

incident with two past New York City early morning bombings and in their

effort to hunt down this bomber.

Additional searches in New York were also conducted in connection to the

latest incident. The two past incidents -- at the British Consulate in

2005 and the Mexican Consulate in 2007 -- each involved a person who cased

the scene, tossed homemade hand grenades at the official buildings in the

early morning hours and then escaped on a bicycle, according to

surveillance images and witnesses. Authorities have not ruled out or

firmly linked the incidents beyond the commonalities in the method of

attack and escape.

In Canada, meanwhile, as FBI agents met with that country's law

enforcement and national security authorities, two individuals linked to

the car stop were the subject of intense scrutiny 24 hours a day, law

enforcement officials said.

That case began, ABC News has learned, about a month ago when a vehicle

was stopped heading into Canada at the Phillipsburg, Quebec-Highgate

Springs, Vt. border crossing. The vehicle was ruled suspicious when

authorities decided there was too much luggage for the two occupants.

Subsequently, Canadian authorities established that a total of five had

attempted to cross the border but three of them had left the car and

walked across, evading the checkpoint.

ABC News sources said of the five men, two were French, one was Italian

and two were Canadian. The Canadians are known to police and are being

closely watched. The other three men men appear to have left Canada.

At the time of the incident, an alert was sent to the FBI and to New York

City authorities. In New York, based on the information provided by

Canada, police visited the recruiting center and other businesses in the

Times Square area to determine if there had been any suspicious activity

noticed. At the time, there did not appear to be any. The suggestion that

specific images of the recruiting center were part of the original alert

were discounted by officials.

When contacted, Canadian authorities would neither confirm nor deny any

portions of the investigation.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/TheLaw/story?id=4409164&page=1