Federal law enforcement officials announced on Wednesday that authorities foiled a terror plot against the White House and other government buildings in Washington, D.C.
“(The alleged terrorist), of Cumming, was arrested in Gwinnett County and appeared briefly in court in downtown Atlanta in the case brought the FBI,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
NEW: Feds arrest Georgia man suspected of plotting attack Washington Monument, White House and Lincoln Memorial with weapons and explosives. Per court documents – man had “hand-drawn diagram of ground floor of the West Wing”
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) January 16, 2019
The criminal complaint stated that a “community member” reached out to law enforcement to warn them that “(the alleged terrorist) had become radicalized.”
U.S. Attorney B.J. Pak said that federal authorities, including the Atlanta Joint Terrorism Task Force, had been investigating (the alleged terrorist), 21, for a year after receiving the tip.
“(The alleged terrorist) is charged as the result of a year-long investigation by FBI Atlanta’s Joint Terrorism Task Force,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “We want to thank the Forsyth County Sheriff Office and Gwinnett County Police Department for assisting us with his arrest. The investigation is continuing, but at this stage it is believed (the alleged terrorist) was acting on his own.”
The AJC notes that “(The alleged terrorist) allegedly said he planned to travel to ‘hijra,’ a term said to refer to Islamic State territory.”
ABC News reported that (the alleged terrorist) allegedly showed an undercover operative in December “a hand-drawn diagram of the White House and asked for help with obtaining weapons and explosives for the attack.”
The FBI arrested (the alleged terrorist) shortly after he traded his car for weapons and explosives that the FBI gave him.
WXIA-TV reported: (the alleged terrorist) has been charged with violating Title 18USC 844(f)(1), an ‘attempt to damage by means of an explosive any building owned, possessed, or leased by the United States or any department or agency thereof, or any institution or organization receiving federal financial assistance.'”
Here are the buildings that the FBI says a 21-year-old Georgia man was targeting;
-Washington Monument
-White House
-Lincoln Memorial
-Unnamed synagogueDETAILS: https://t.co/KOBtyVjDJn
— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) January 16, 2019
Reporter Alyssa Hyman took photos of federal authorities executing a search warrant at what appeared to be (the alleged terrorist’s) home:
Made it to Cumming -where federal authorities are executing a search warrant at the home of Forsyth man charged with plot to attack White House @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/Azw4b5fspE
— Alyssa Hyman (@AlyssaHymanWSB) January 16, 2019
WATCH:
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