E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA Virginia man pleads guilty to shooting at several military-related buildings in 2010. NBC's Pete Williams has the video Yonathon Melaku created one of the nights he was out shooting.
The man who shot at the Pentagon in late 2010 and other military related targets in the Washington, D.C. area pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Virginia.
After the plea was entered, prosecutors released a video he made, which shows him in his car, firing shots from a handgun.
Yonathan Melaku, 23, admitted he committed five separate shootings in October and November 2010 -- twice at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and once each at the Pentagon and at Coast Guard and Marine Corps recruiting offices in Virginia. He fired the shots late at night or early in the morning, using a 9 mm handgun. No one was hurt, but the government says that repairs will cost over $100,000.
On the tape, which Melaku made during the night he shot at the Marine Corps museum for the second time, he can be heard saying: "That's a military building, and that's the building I'm going to be targeting. ... Last time I hit them, they turned off the lights for, like, four or five days."
He can be seen waving his gun at the camera. At another point in the tape, he begins firing. The shots can be heard and the muzzle flash from the gun seen.
Melaku also records himself wearing a mask and then later removes the mask, showing his face.
He was arrested last June near Arlington National Cemetery at 1:30 am. A search of his home turned up what investigators said were potential components of a homemade bomb.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
Leave a Comment:
100K for a few broken windows?
Floor to ceiling plate glass, do the math.
Thanks Uncle. Maybe next time get your moneys worth and go with bullet proof.
Bullets do NOT simply bounce off of bulletproof glass without damage. Unlike in movies and TV shows, bulletproof glass must be replaced after it has been shot. And it costs about 10 times as much as normal glass.
and can be shattered with a BB gun
What a tool this guy is. where is the outrage from the American Muslim community? I see nothing in the media from them. Just endless whining about non-existent "Islamophobia."
Uh, where in this article does it say this guy is a Muslim?
Even if it turns out if he is a Muslim, why don't you ask where the outrage was from the Catholic community when Timothy McVeigh took an even bigger shot at a federal building?
Yonathan sounds more like Hebrew name.
He is of Ethiopian descent and a Muslim, who was carrying suspected bomb making materials and pro-al Qaeda literature was arrested in Arlington National Cemetery.
Of course MSNBC left that part out, and it does matter because it goes to motive. Wouldn't want to offend the peace loving tolerant Muslims by pointing this out.
I heard the guy was enraged because he heard Barney Frank was getting married to someone else. Nothing worse than a gilted lover. Now, if Reverand Fred Phelps would do the marriage, this would be a perfect story. In today's world does it matter if the story is true or not ?
You heard? From where? Let us know....
Or, did you just make it up?
If we cannot pronounce your name your already knee deep in @!$%# creek. :P
How much can I pay this moron to shoot up Barney Frank's "wedding"?
Why don't you do it yourself?
I'm not a moron, sir....
The article doesn't say why he was shooting at these buildings...What is MSNBC not telling us and why? Basic concepts of journalism include answering who, what, WHY, where, when and how...I don't want to watch the video...
Cut off his balls and feed them to a hungry dog while he watches...