Mystery in Brooklyn: Bomb factory at Columbia University professor’s home
The NY Daily News reports today on a disturbing discovery at a Columbia University instructor’s home:
Police stumbled upon a bomb-making factory Sunday in the home of a Columbia professor who specializes in the spread of infectious disease – and are investigating whether he and his roommate have terror ties.
Cops evacuated the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood around the Remsen St. home of Michael Clatts, a medical anthropologist, after finding seven pipe bombs fitted with fuses in his flat, police sources said.
The frightening cache was discovered almost by accident – Ivaylo Ivanov, the man living with Clatts, accidentally shot off the tip of his left index finger and sought police help in the street about 1:15 a.m.
When investigators went to the 37-year-old Ivanov’s apartment, they found the bombs, already capped on both ends and filled with powder. One of the pipe bombs was inserted into a Nerf football, cops said.
A 9-mm. handgun, two ammunition magazines, a 12-gauge shotgun, silencers, a bulletproof vest, a crossbow and bomb-making equipment, including a drill and threading machine that could be used to make pipe bombs, were also recovered, cops said.
Clatts cannot be located. Who is he?
Clatts is a medical anthropologist with a specialty in epidemiol.ogy – the spread of disease among large populations.
He is an associate professor in Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and holds a Ph.D. from the Ivy League school.
The senior director of communication for the school, Randee Levine, said she cannot comment on a police investigation.
Clatts’ exact relationship with Ivanov is unknown. Building residents said Clatts once described himself and Ivanov as roommates, nothing more.
Cops became suspicious of Ivanov because he first claimed he had been shot by a stranger but then admitted shooting himself. Fearing another person had been injured at the address, police went to the apartment and opened the door to the bomb factory. They immediately sealed the apartment while they got a search warrant, cops said.
Cops called the bomb squad, which evacuated the building and three others nearby and removed the materials. Residents were not allowed back inside for nearly 12 hours.
Police said last night they were uncertain whether all of the bombs were operative.
Ivanov has prior arrests for possession of drug paraphernalia, including hypodermic needles, a police source said. A man with the same name was deported from the U.S. a couple of years ago for drug dealing, but cops are unsure whether this is the same person, a police source said.
The NYTimes reports on a bizarre twist in the case: Ivanov has confessed to a string of anti-Jewish vandalism incidents last fall. Ivanov, his lawyer told the media, is himself Jewish.
According to a law enforcement official, detectives are exploring the possibility that Mr. Ivanov had planned to use the pipe bombs against synagogues. The official said that Mr. Ivanov told investigators he intended to use the bombs for fishing; but, given his admission that he painted swastikas on synagogues, investigators became concerned he was planning violence. Detectives have seized his computers, and are searching them for clues, the official said.
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What better way to infiltrate a system than to hide it right under our very noses in broad freaking daylight!
Surprise, surprise….. a looney left wing nut is a professor at a major university.
May I be the first to say…… DUH!
First a noose, now pipe bombs, what the hell are those crazy libs at Columbia up to?
Let’s hope this investigation into the latest hijinks at Columbia doesn’t result in another 3 month goose chase.
ummm…. wow?
I wonder if he’s also a gun controller? Wouldn’t be the first time a gun controller was caught committing a crime with a gun.
I’m sure glad Ivaylo Ivanov forgot the first rule of gun safety, this time.
Is that the SAME Columbia University that opened its arms to embrace Iran’s Achmadimmiedink, and further sent an envoy to apologize for the “rude” introduction by its President?
Oh ya, THAT Columbia University!
Precious… and predictable.
Clatts studies infectious diseases. Is that anything like anthrax?
Still, not a comforting statement, especially during the same week that Mayor Bloomberg scolded those in NYC who are still worried about issues regarding immigration and security.
AHHH, I now found a use for my bazooka. Just kiddin.
Columbia? I am shocked.
/max sarc on
I guess it is okay as long as they do not teach about GOD because that would violate “church and state”. Building fish bombs is not illegal!
This is what you get for you $40,000 tuition.
This highlights the fact that having a degree isn’t all that important if these are the kind of professor who are educating our kids.
From their Web site:
Columbia is one of the top academic and research institutions in the world, conducting pathbreaking research in medicine, science, the arts, and the humanities.
So, maybe he was experimenting with some new way of mixing all these disciplines to create a new learning experience n’est–ce pas?
#9 On January 22nd, 2008 at 10:21 am, On-my-soap-box said:
“The official said that Mr. Ivanov told investigators he intended to use the bombs for fishing;…
AHHH, I now found a use for my bazooka. Just kiddin.
Columbia? I am shocked.
/max sarc on
I guess it is okay as long as they do not teach about GOD because that would violate “church and state”. Building fish bombs is not illegal!”
Good post.
Guess the Monty Python guys were spot on target when they went mosquito hunting with a jeep full of weapons, including a mounted machine gun AND A BAZOOKA!
#2 On January 22nd, 2008 at 10:12 am, The Raging Republican said:
“a Columbia University instructor
Surprise, surprise….. a looney left wing nut is a professor at a major university.
May I be the first to say…… DUH!”
Yep – you beat me to it!
On the more serious side…this is very enraging and sobering.
D’ya think our leftists/socialists will “get it” NOW?
Don’t hold your breath yet….
Hello? didnt their boss just give a speech there this summer?
Oh, well this is comforting. Let’s not let this get out, the market is already in the tank.
Houston, we have
a problemmajor problems.NO.
Holy frick!
I lived in Brooklyn Heights for two years! I lived on Clark, not more than a few minutes walk from Remsen!
This appears to be a sample of Dr. Clatts’ research:
Ethnographic Observations of Men Who Have Sex with Men in Public
Let’s sum this up:
1. Columbia University embraces Iran’s sick terrorist leader.
2. A professor who specializes in the spread of infectious disease is found to have a quote “bomb factory” in his home.
3. He claims they were for fishing?
It isn’t hard to connect the dots here ladies and gentlemen. Can we say home grown terrorist planning to make some form of biological WMD?
Thank god this was discovered but the implications are extremely disturbing.
That has just got to be one of the best excuses I’ve heard in a long time….Fish Bombs?
Does that moron really believe we’re that gullible? Oh, wait…maybe his buddies at Columbia are….
The NY Times claims he may be away on a “business trip” to Puerto Rico because he’s a visiting professor there, or in Vietnam doing research on HIV, etc.
What amazes me is the downplay of the possibility that Clatts could be involved. How can someone live in the same apartment with a bombmaker with a weapons cache and NOT know about it?
I wish I was still surprised by this kind of thing – but I am not – especially not at a place like Columbia University.
What else can you expect from a university that kisses up to Imanutjob from Iran and calls our President a “war criminal”?
Is Terr 101 part of the curriculum? Bombs used for fishing? Saddam Hussein used the same technique. Did Saddam attend Columbia? heh
ent,
I read some of his research paper and frankly, some of what he says is pretty graphic, did he really observed this behavior?
Once again another lucky break by the grace of God! I am so glad Mr. Ivanov didn’t understand the first rule of gun safety “always assume the weapon is loaded when handling it.” His carelessness may have prevented a reign of terrorism courtesy of our ever tolerant loony left education establishment. I find it hard to believe a professor would use the rednecks favorite fishing tool after all they are all about saving the environment.
Man, that must make family reunions terribly awkward…
hatelibs, lets keep the (reported) facts straight.
3.
HeHis roommate claims they were for fishing?At this point, we don’t know if Clatts was involved or not. Without knowing the layout of the apartment and the division of space, we don’t know if Ivanov could have kept this from Clatts or not. And how long has Clatts been away?
But, oh yeah, does Clatts have some explaining to do!
It sounds like Dr, Clatts is a specialist in the spread of infectious diseases, and Ivaylo Ivanov is a novice in delivery systems.
Question: What are Columbia U. and the NYPD going to do about this one?
Let’s not jump to conclusions. It’s more likely what the police found were just some harmless firecrackers left over from a beach celebration after Amadinajab’s speech there last year. Happens all the time, doncha know.
a.k.a. Fly fishing?
Is either of these guys recent converts to the religion of peace?
Just askin.
More:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/01/22/2008-01-22_bomb_maker_confesses_to_spraypainting_sw-1.html
#31: On January 22nd, 2008 at 11:15 am, On-my-soap-box said:
“Ethnographic Observations of Men Who Have Sex with Men in Public
a.k.a. Fly fishing?”
Good one….
No; GREAT one!
Touche!
#32:
“On January 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 am, walterc said:
Is either of these guys recent converts to the religion of peace?
Just askin.”
Correct.
That possibility, as well as connections/dealings between jihadists and nonconverts, HAS to be ruled out (excluded ONLY after it has been checked into thoroughly) in EVERY such case.
Good one Soap!
My first reaction is…
Holy shiiiii…
The freak is a specialist in the spread of infectious diseases. HELLO?!
Well, who woulda thunk it? Geez!
Some of our country’s biggest enemies teach at our universities. Yet another reason to get rid of tenure.
Columbia University
It’s that one of the top schools of learning? Weren’t they just in the news not long ago? Something about free speech and rights of others?
Just another sign of Americans decline.
Sad.
Wonder if this has anything to do with the noose incident.
was it their latest addition to faculty from abroad: Prof Mahmoud?…
I’m still waiting to hear this over the news. Nothing yet.
…as well as video analysis – as in who planted the noose.
I’m sure the University is working around the clock to see that justice is done in both cases.
Not.
Ok, now I’ve heard of hooking a battery up and throwing the cable’s in the water and stunning the fish long enought to pick them up but was this guy trying to avoid having to fillet them.
Not suprising the world is full of these zealot’s.
Gefilte fishing?
The police finding the bombs and the materials in the the apartment will likely not be admissible in court. They didn’t have probable cause to go to this man’s apartment, let alone look into it when the door was opened.
Legally speaking, it seems this incident never happened.
I’m sure glad I never went fishing with this guy. I have never seen the Pipe Bombs at Bass Pro Shops. I always use a baitcaster.
Is this the same Ivaylo Ivanov???
What, you’ve never chucked M-80’s into a pond?
The Unabomber was an Ivy League man, too.
There are some major problems at CU.
Um, how do you fish with a pipe bomb in a Nerf football? Nerf balls FLOAT.
Lessee, we’ve got an ultra-militant liberal self-hating Jewish guy seeking to spread terror and disease, so….
WE’D BETTER CRACK DOWN ON THOSE CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN XENOPHOBE MINUTEMEN TYPES!!!
It’s for the children, dontchaknow?
Yeah, fishing with small explosives is a time honored tradition among some of the more colorful country folk I grew up around in Central Florida.
But #52 has the most important point: nerf footballs do float.
Ah, Soap is probably right, he might have been ‘fly fishing….’
Nothing to see here….
You cannot vote for anyone who allows these slimeballs to stay in our country!
When are people gonna wake up?
Wow, I’m not to far away from Brooklyn Heights, just about 10 minutes by foot! That kinda freaks me out…
Dollar says they don’t even own fishing equipment.
It is often said that Jews are their own worst enemies, but Ivonov has taken that to a whole new level, sheesh!
Fishing, eh? Fishing for what? Probably “victims”. Find the type of “fish” you want, congregating somewhere, explode the pipe-bomb, and watch them “float face up”. People in the Middle East, know all about that type of “fishing”.