Was Failed Times Square Car Bomb Related To South Park‘s Mohammed Episode?

Late Saturday evening news broke that the Times Square evacuation was more than just another preemptive effort; that in fact, there was a S.U.V. with propane tanks and incendiary devices. As news continues to surface, some are starting to wonder if this is in any way related to the recent controversial episode of South Park that featured a depiction of Mohammed, and angered Islamic extremists, since the car was parked just outside the entrance to Viacom’s headquarters, parent company to Comedy Central.

Few details regarding have actually emerged, though surveillance footage indicates that a “white male in his 40s” may be a person of interest to the NYPD in this matter. Further, a Pakistan Taliban group has claimed responsibility for the failed effort, though many experts are dismissing this particular claim.

Writing for the Washington Post, Michael Cavna reports:

One possibility New York police are investigating is whether there is any link between the SUV bomb left at New York’s Times Square this weekend and recent threats made against the creators of the Comedy Central show “South Park,” according to news reports.

News outlets such as the New York Daily News and the Telegraph were reporting Sunday that authorities have not linked the car bomb and the controversial animated show, but that they are “aggressively looking for connections” between the two.

The SUV bomb reportedly was parked near the Manhattan headquarters of Viacom, which is the parent company of Comedy Central.

Rep. Peter King of Long Island fanned the flames of “South Park” speculation. He cited the recent “South Park” controversy as ONE possible motive. “You have the whole issue with ‘South Park,’ which Islamic terrorists were threatening to have retribution for,” King reportedly told CNN, though he stressed that the theory was “one possibility out of a hundred.”

A recent episode of South Park depected the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit, garnering the creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker death threats from a radical Islamic group, and resulting in defenses from both Anderson Cooper and Bill O’Reilly. Comedy Central later censored the follow-up episode that riled up the Muslim extremists, bleeping out the name of the Prophet and along with anything remotely controversial, including the final speech from character Kyle that did not mention the Prophet but could have been interpreted as a challenge to the threats.

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