On Tuesday, that extraordinary routine — which has kept him out of a courtroom, away from a lawyer and out of the public eye — was interrupted. The immigrant, Faisal Shahzad, whose unsuccessful attempt to detonate the car bomb on May 1 wrought chaos among thousands of people in Times Square, appeared in court for the first time, represented by a lawyer.
But the tension and drama that led up to the brief proceeding, including a sweep of the packed fifth-floor courtroom that cleared mobs of reporters and spectators so the room could be secured, far overshadowed the substance of the hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes.
Indeed, Mr. Shahzad, 30, a former financial analyst who was raised in a military family in Pakistan and earned degrees from the University of Bridgeport, spoke only one word — “yes' — during his appearance in Manhattan federal court, confirming that the information in a financial affidavit was the truth. He seemed calm and looked intently at Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV, who at one point read him his rights and warned him that anything he said could be used against him.
The judge ordered Mr. Shahzad detained without bail at the government's request, and he is now being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
The hearing came after Mr. Shahzad indicated he was ready to stop waiving his right to a speedy court appearance, people briefed on the matter said. The proceeding is known as a presentment, or an initial court appearance on a complaint. Mr. Shahzad was not asked to enter a plea, and he did not do so.
Mr. Shahzad, who had been held at an undisclosed location since his arrest, was arrested on May 3 at Kennedy International Airport aboard a plane that was about to leave for Dubai. He began cooperating with prosecutors and F.B.I. agents and police detectives from the Joint Terrorism Task Force a short time later.
The day after the arrest, he was charged in the complaint with one count each of attempting acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries; attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction; using a destructive device in connection with an attempted crime of violence; transporting explosives; and attempting to destroy property with fire and explosives. The first two charges each carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.