Terrorism Expert to Newsmax: Boston Blast a McVeigh-Like Attack

A renowned expert on world terrorism says the deadly blasts that rocked Boston have all the earmarks of a domestic attack — not unlike Timothy McVeigh’s 1995 truck-bomb explosion in Oklahoma City.

“It’s interesting the timing of this event,’’ Dr. Harvey Kushner told Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show.

“It’s Patriots’ Day, Tax Day. It’s a holiday in Boston and we’re coming up on what was the Oklahoma City bombing April 19, and also the Battle of Lexington, which started the American Revolution.

“A lot of domestic terrorist organizations used to key in on that date, April 19. And Boston … is the center of this patriot movement and patriot feeling.’’

Kushner, author of “Holy War on the Home Front: The Secret Islamic Terror Network in the United States’’ and “The Encyclopedia of Terrorism’’ said the marathon’s prominence appears to be a factor in it being targeted.

“You have cameras there. You have news coverage. So a big statement has been made by this,’’ he said.

“Whether it’s at the hand of a domestic terrorist or an internationally sponsored group or a wannabe, this is not good for this country because it just shows the vulnerability of this nation.

“This is not flying planes into buildings, but it’s certainly hitting America on an important day, and it just shows our vulnerability.’’

He said he believed the explosions could be the work of “a McVeigh type, if I could be so bold.’’

Kushner, chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice at Long Island University, said other large U.S. cities now could now be in jeopardy.

“I’ve always feared that. In fact, if this does shake out to be a terrorist event, this really widens the net because everybody knew New York was targeted,’’ he told Steve Malzberg.

“If it does turn out to have any link [that’s] international, this really ratchets up our level of concern … Clearly the international cities are New York, Washington, and to some extent, L.A. and even Miami.

“But this would bring it down the whole coast, the whole East Coast of this country …This shows our vulnerability.’’