A US Army veteran was apparently seeking revenge for the Christchurch attack. FBI investigators stopped his plans to assassinate a right-wing rally and arrested the man.
A US Army veteran has been arrested in California for alleged plans for a massive plot. Investigators said that the 26-year-old had been in Long Beach near Los Angeles last weekend with an explosive device to kill many people. He wanted to seek revenge for the attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where 50 people were killed in mid-March.
The man arrested on Friday admitted to Muslim faith to a covert federal FBI investigator and expressed his desire to die as a martyr of his religion. The suspect was reportedly a US soldier in Afghanistan in combat.
Undercover investigator convicted the man
The suspect was arrested on Friday after an FBI informant had communicated with him. An investigator from the FBI emphasized that at no time was there any danger to the public. According to the security authorities, the man reportedly made his contributions to the Internet known as an extremist form of Islam and threatened to use force.
An informant from the FBI then contacted him and met him several times, the Ministry of Justice said. At the first meeting, the 26-year-old had talked about various targets, in another meeting, he had expressed his support for the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). The suspect then planned to attack a rally by right-wing extremists and instructed the informant to locate a bomb maker.
15 years imprisonment threaten
A covert investigator of the FBI had finally given him on Friday a non-operational explosive device. The 26-year-old was charged with supporting terrorists. If convicted, he could face imprisonment of up to 15 years.
