First “MBA Terrorist”

The bomb, which was hidden in a car in the Theatre District earlier this month, has caused a new discussion on home-grown terrorism in the USA. It now turns out that the attempted bomb attack is linked to an MBA alumni. Mr Shahzad, an alumni of the University of Bridgeport, Conneticut, was arrested on May 5th when he tried to leave the US for Dubai.

The suspect with a Pakistani background is the opposite of the classical terrorist stereotype: Mr Shahzad was born into a wealthy Pakistani family and moved to the US at the age of 19 to study. Investigators believe that he was radicalised and trained with Taliban-linked groups near the Afghan border. His father, who was a vice-marshal in the air force, was explicitly against his training.

The attempted bombing rose hackles on Mr Shahzad’s old campus at Bridgeport University, which offers international programs with over 25 % foreign students. The iman of the an-Noor mosque, the biggest near Mr Shahzad’s MBA campus, also showed strong disapproval. According to the Financial Times he said after prayers: “Terrorism does not belong to any religion,” noting that the street vendor who reported Mr Shahzad’s smoking vehicle was also Muslim. “For everyone Muslim who does bad, there are many many more who do good.”