# British Consulate in NYC Bombed **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 5, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515 "2005-05-05T11:38:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/21 "2005-05-05T20:38:02Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > But the scary part is they proved it could be done. Now, maybe next time, they’ll try it with something a little bigger. ☹ My thoughts exactly. **msmith537** , if someone had done the same thing to the US Consulate in say, the UK, would you have seen it as the work of some “jerkoff” pulling a frat boy prank? Just curious… ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/22 "2005-05-05T21:17:23Z")
it has been suggested on another board that there may be a link to the hunger-strike-in-prison death of IRA terrorist Bobbie Sands on May 5th 1981 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/23 "2005-05-05T22:35:34Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > But the scary part is they proved it could be done. ( It’s hardly as though no one has ever set off a bomb in New York before. I think people have _known_ “it could be done” for more than a century. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/24 "2005-05-05T23:43:02Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > There was the World Trade Center bombing in February 1993. Remember the guy who tried to get his deposit back on the Ryder truck he’d rented for the job? (Salameh Something.) [Mohammed Salameh.](http://www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=19419) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/25 "2005-05-06T00:41:25Z")
It was a test. I truly get that gut feeling. They were checking for readiness, response times, & the procedures used by security teams. Somebody was _watching_. And they got exactly what they wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/26 "2005-05-06T01:06:46Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > And they got exactly what they wanted. Some cracked glass, and increased security at that location to make it tougher to plant bombs? Their images caught on security cameras? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/27 "2005-05-06T01:11:09Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > Some cracked glass, and increased security at that location to make it tougher to plant bombs? Their images caught on security cameras? They learned how the security personnel react, how fast, & what procedures they use. Knowledge that can be exploited. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/28 "2005-05-06T12:06:58Z")
Thanks **Bosda**. If anyone needs me I’ll be under my bed in the fetal position. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/29 "2005-05-06T12:59:29Z")
Oh please, it’s a crank. Some guy broke open a bunch of cherry bombs and dumped the gunpowder in a plastic grenade to protest the UK elections. I don’t think it is any surprise that someone can walk down a deserted street at 330am and plant a couple of really big firecrackers. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515/30 "2005-05-06T13:02:53Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > They learned how the security personnel react, how fast, & what procedures they use. > Knowledge that can be exploited. Pfft. It was a light-and-run job using only enough explosive that could be fit into a coat pocket. Anyone with half a brain would know how fast the police would come – the nearest precinct house is literally right around the corner. IIRC the nearest firehouse isn’t much further. And they’ve been drilling the initial response and street-closing procedure in public for years now (For the record, they’re getting really good at it. It looks like a damn cop car ballet at this point.). I’m not worried in the least that this was a “they” planning anything bigger. Prolly some pissed off Tory or a Rachel Corrie fanatic or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-consulate-in-nyc-bombed/302515.md?page=1)