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American Morning

Interview with Jeffrey Lampinski, FBI

Aired May 16, 2002 - 07:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, a Philadelphia electrician, Preston Lit, is facing federal charges in connection with suspicious packages found and near city mailboxes earlier this week. Lit is charged with threatening to use explosive devices. One of the packages detonated when the bomb squad tried to diffuse it, a letter that said, "Free Palestine" was attached to the bomb. Investigators matched the suspect's handwriting to other letters they found addressed to President Bush, with the return address "Royal al Qaeda Headquarters."

Joining us now from Philadelphia, FBI Special Agent, Jeffrey Lampinski -- good morning, welcome.

JEFFREY LAMPINSKI, PHILADELPHIA FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: I know you were involved in the arrest of Mr. Lit after he was found dumping suspicious materials in a neighbor's yard. Is that what led to his arrest?

LAMPINSKI: That's correct. What started as what one would describe as perhaps a mischievous prank led to his arrest ultimately later that afternoon at about 5:00 PM.

ZAHN: Now isn't it also true he was arrested first on Tuesday night and questioned about an outstanding arrest warrant in Florida and then he was released? When that happened, were police at all suspicious that he might be involved with this?

LAMPINSKI: They were not. He was stopped -- my understanding is he was stopped for erratic driving up near the Reading area of Pennsylvania. He was questioned regarding some outstanding warrants. And ultimately that department determined that they had no reason to hold him. There was not an alert published at that time for his connection to the alleged bombings here in Philadelphia.

ZAHN: Now two of the postcards that were found were allegedly addressed to President Bush. Can you tell us about the content of those postcards?

LAMPINSKI: I cannot, Paula. I'm not at liberty to discuss that. The warrant itself, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) affidavit is under seal, and we're not at liberty to disclose the results of that search or the contents of the affidavit. ZAHN: Are you able to tell us any more about the words "free Palestine and al Qaeda," which were written on the package that exploded on Monday? Do you believe at this hour that Preston Lit had any connection to a terrorist group?

LAMPINSKI: Paula, we don't. Those words were, in fact, written on poster board and other notes found out two locations, both the Monday afternoon location -- that postal box on that particular device -- and also Tuesday at another postal box still in that same northeast neighborhood -- northeast of Philadelphia. But we have no credible evidence to link Mr. Lit to any terrorist organization, and certainly not to al Qaeda.

ZAHN: So if that is the case, what apparently motivated this man?

LAMPINSKI: I can't speak for Mr. Lit, I can't speak to his mind -- his mindset in this case. It could well be a copycat type event, but that would be speculation.

ZAHN: You raise an interesting issue, though, because it was just about a week ago that Luke Helder, the happy face mail bomber was arrested. What is the possibility that this is a copycat incident?

LAMPINSKI: I'd suggest that's a strong possibility that it's close in terms of time, close in proximity. The mailbox was used obviously by Mr. Lit. And on one of the notes that was recovered in the second postal box, there was a reference to July 4 of 2002, al Qaeda.

And we know there have been published reports about the purported al Qaeda threatened attack on July 4, 2002 against some nuclear facilities; specifically, one in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. So it is very likely that he's been reading those reports.

ZAHN: What else do we know about this man?

LAMPINSKI: I can't comment any further. He was taken into custody yesterday evening. He was questioned overnight. He'll have an appearance this afternoon at 1:30 PM before a U.S. magistrate judge here in Philadelphia.

ZAHN: But, again, just putting it in perspective, when people were quite frightened by this, at least at this hour, based on what you know, this appears to look like the work of an individual because you haven't found any direct link to a terrorist group, right?

LAMPINSKI: That's correct. He certainly menaced this particular neighborhood in Philadelphia. And we're thankful that he's in custody and off the streets.

ZAHN: Well, Jeffrey Lampinski, we appreciate your joining us this morning. I know you're a little bit limited about what you're allowed to share with us, but that was very helpful. Thank you very much for your time this morning.

LAMPINSKI: Thank you very much.

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