New York: The person who sent letters to members of Congress that included a photo of a Times Square military recruitment station "is not the bomber" who attacked the building Thursday, law enforcement sources say.
Security video shows a bicyclist approach a Times Square recruiting station moments before a bomb went off.
"The letter's really innocuous," New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told CNN's "American Morning" Friday. "It's really advice to the Democratic Party as to how to win the 2008 election."
The letters drew suspicion because they were delivered to members of Congress the day of the bombing and included a picture of the recruitment station with the words, "We did it."
Kelly said the letter writer claims the picture was the writer's 2006 holiday card and the words "We did it" referred to the Democrats' takeover of Congress in that year's elections.
Because the letters -- full of anti-war rhetoric and sent only to Democrats -- passed through the usual congressional security screening process, they must have been mailed at least several days before the bombing, The Associated Press reported.
"There's nothing particularly threatening in the document," Kelly said.
"It's an ugly coincidence," a law enforcement source who requested anonymity said.
However, authorities are reviewing an encounter at the US-Canadian border in New York last month, Kelly and another law enforcement source acknowledged.
The unnamed source said that one or more people who were crossing the border may have left before being fully interviewed by the U.S. Border Patrol, and one or more of the people left behind a backpack that contained a photograph of Times Square.
At the time, authorities did not come up with any information suggesting that those involved had suspicious backgrounds.
While the source stressed that there is no conclusive evidence linking the incident to the Times Square bombing, authorities say they believe it is prudent to revisit the case.
The focus in the search for the bomber now returns to New York, where investigators continue to study video from security cameras in Times Square.
A video that Kelly showed reporters Thursday afternoon shows a person wearing a hood riding up to the station on a bicycle, walking up to the door, pausing for a few moments, then riding off. The explosion occurs about a minute later.
A 10-speed bike in good condition was later found in a trash bin not far from the scene. Police said they were trying to determine if it was the bicycle seen in the video. The bomb consisted of some kind of "low-order explosive" contained in a military-style ammunition box, Kelly said.
"This was not a particularly sophisticated device," he said.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was defiant in the wake of the blast.
"Whoever the coward was that committed this disgraceful act on our city will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Bloomberg said.
The blast is similar to two other incidents in New York, one in October and one in May 2005.
Both times, an explosive device was detonated around 3 a.m.
In the October incident, a bomb was detonated near the Mexican Consulate, shattering windows. At that time, authorities said the explosive device was similar to the ones used in a May 2005 blast at the British Consulate.
In both cases, authorities were looking for a person spotted riding a bicycle in the area.
Police stopped several bicyclists for questioning Thursday morning near Times Square, but no one was detained, WABC-TV reported.
The office's front door and window were shattered by the explosion, and the door's metal frame was bent.
Recruiters will work from an office in Union Square until repairs are made, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told AP.
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