Clerk: Shahzad Seemed a Typical "American Guy"
A man who sold accused Time Square bomber Faisal Shahzad fireworks said the alleged terrorist seemed like a "typical, average American guy."
Chris Nemeth, a clerk at Phantom Fireworks' Matamoras, Pa. store said he sold Shahzad eight boxes - $95 worth - of fireworks on March 8.
He (Shahzad) acted like a "calm, unremarkable customer," Nemeth told CBS' "The Early Show" Friday. Nemeth said Shahzad produced a Connecticut driver's license with his name on it and paid with a $100 bill.
"The thought never crossed my mind" that someone would try to use these fireworks as part of a terror attack, Nemeth said.
Special Section: Terrorism in the U.S.
"The perpetrator purchased Phantom's Silver Salute M-88 brand firecrackers. The perpetrator apparently hoped for a chain ignition and mass detonation of the firecrackers. Consumer firecrackers do not have enough power to produce such an effect, and as a result they do not mass detonate," the fireworks company said in a press release Thursday.
"We are very disappointed this coward would use a Phantom Fireworks product intending to cause harm to Americans," the company added. "We are thankful there was no injury or damage in this event, and we are gratified that we were able to offer something of value in this investigation."
Company President Bruce Zoldan had said Wednesday that "the M-88 he used wouldn't damage a watermelon." Nemeth agreed, saying the Silver Salute fireworks Shahzad bought would do nothing but produce a "gentle pop."
Watch surveillance tape of Shahzad browsing for fireworks:
More coverage of the Times Square Bomb Plot:
Shahzad Practiced Bomb Plot, Official Says
Authorities Lost Faisal Shahzad in Traffic
Shahzad: Number Cruncher to Terror Suspect
Bomb Suspect Shahzad Seen Walking Away in Video
How You End Up on the U.S. No-Fly List
Shahzad Bought Weak Fireworks, Store Owner Says
Faisal Shahzad on Homeland Security List Since 1999
Exclusive: New Image of Shahzad in Times Square
CBS/ AP Chris Nemeth, a clerk at Phantom Fireworks' Matamoras, Pa. store said he sold Shahzad eight boxes - $95 worth - of fireworks on March 8.
He (Shahzad) acted like a "calm, unremarkable customer," Nemeth told CBS' "The Early Show" Friday. Nemeth said Shahzad produced a Connecticut driver's license with his name on it and paid with a $100 bill.
"The thought never crossed my mind" that someone would try to use these fireworks as part of a terror attack, Nemeth said.
Special Section: Terrorism in the U.S.
"The perpetrator purchased Phantom's Silver Salute M-88 brand firecrackers. The perpetrator apparently hoped for a chain ignition and mass detonation of the firecrackers. Consumer firecrackers do not have enough power to produce such an effect, and as a result they do not mass detonate," the fireworks company said in a press release Thursday.
"We are very disappointed this coward would use a Phantom Fireworks product intending to cause harm to Americans," the company added. "We are thankful there was no injury or damage in this event, and we are gratified that we were able to offer something of value in this investigation."
Company President Bruce Zoldan had said Wednesday that "the M-88 he used wouldn't damage a watermelon." Nemeth agreed, saying the Silver Salute fireworks Shahzad bought would do nothing but produce a "gentle pop."
Watch surveillance tape of Shahzad browsing for fireworks:
More coverage of the Times Square Bomb Plot:
Shahzad Practiced Bomb Plot, Official Says
Authorities Lost Faisal Shahzad in Traffic
Shahzad: Number Cruncher to Terror Suspect
Bomb Suspect Shahzad Seen Walking Away in Video
How You End Up on the U.S. No-Fly List
Shahzad Bought Weak Fireworks, Store Owner Says
Faisal Shahzad on Homeland Security List Since 1999
Exclusive: New Image of Shahzad in Times Square
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We will be safe and obedient slaves and the government can run amuck.
Secondly, we're still lucky he was so incompetent at his terroist attempt just as he was in providing for his family, that he couldn't pull of the bombing.
Third, while he didn't know what kind of fireworks to use, someone else mgiht well figure it our someday. Fireworks shouldn't be sold to just anyone anyway. They are loud and annoying and even drunken college students could cause fires and other damage while they are having such fun waking the rest of us up at 2 Am. It's time to rescind laways allowing fireworks to be sold to the public in any case. No one should be able to get hold of explosives like these large foreworks and this guy who sold the firewarks to the terroists is crying crocodile tears since he obviously doesn't care about the harm done to Americans across the country when his fireworks damage property or terrify our pets and children on a daily basis.
If you live in the farmlands of Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas it might be getting up before dawn working your tail to the bone, having dinner with your family and settling in for the evening. If you are from So. Ca., it might be getting up after dawn, going out with your buds for a few beers, coming home to a cold dinner, saying Hi to your kids right before they go to bed, and falling asleep in the stuffed chair watching TV while your wife is waiting for you to come to bed.
If you live in other parts of the country, the characteristics of the 'average American guy' only reflect what the locale breeds. Our country has become so diverse and we have bred a 'new man and a new woman, raising new kids' there is not one shred of familiarity to what we saw 30-50 years ago.
Anybody could be a terrorist. When people get angry enough, you get guys running their small aircraft in IRS buildings, guys going postal at the drop of a hat, and people yelling obscenities at woman and small children just because....well just because. The new America is not our Daddy's or our Grandparent's, what the heck happened to this country?