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Subscribe to RSSInvestigators say the man accused of plotting to bomb the U.S. Capitol never had any explosives. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
Updated at 5:31 p.m. ET: WASHINGTON — The FBI and Capitol police arrested a man who thought he was going to carry out a suicide bombing Friday at the U.S. Capitol as part of a larger al-Qaida terror campaign but who was in fact dealing with undercover operatives, federal officials told NBC News.
The man, Amine El Khalifi, 29, a Moroccan who has been living in the U.S. for 12 years, was arrested about noon ET near the Capitol after he received what he thought was a MAC-10 automatic weapon and a vest packed with explosives from people he believed were supporters of al-Qaida, sources told NBC News. In fact, the gun was disabled, the vest had inert material and the people were FBI agents.
"At no time was the public or congressional community in any danger," Capitol Police said in a statement.
As outlined in a Justice Department press release, El Khalifi was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property that is owned and used by the United States. The office of the U.S. attorney for Eastern Virginia said he could face life in prison if convicted.
The Associated Press, quoting a counterterrorism official, reported that police were close to arresting an associate of El Khalifi's on charges unrelated to the conspiracy. Like El Khalifi, the associate was said to be a Moroccan living in the U.S. illegally.
James McJunkin, assistant director of the FBI's Washington field office, stressed that El Khalifi allegedly "followed a twisted, radical ideology that is not representative of the Muslim community in the United States."
Yearlong investigation
The criminalcomplaint alleges that a confidential source told the FBI that El Khalifi attended a meeting on Jan. 11, 2011, in Arlington, Va. — a suburb of Washington — where one of the participants produced an AK-47 assault rifle, two revolvers and ammunition. The informer said El Khalifi agreed that the "war on terrorism" was a "war on Muslims" and said the group needed to be ready for war.
On Dec. 1, El Khalifi was introduced by a man he knew as "Hussien" to a man he knew as "Yusuf," who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. Through December and January, El Khalifi plotted a bombing attack, the complaint alleges, proposing U.S. military offices, a synagogue, Army generals and a restaurant frequented by military officials as targets, it says.
The complaint says El Khalifi "indicated his desire" to "kill people face-to-face," conducted surveillance to determine the best time and place for the bombing and bought materials as part of the operation.
El Khalifi understood that his attack would be part of a larger al-Qaida operation that would include his bombing and a second attack against a military installation by others in al-Qaida, according to the charges.
The crucial turn came on Jan. 15, when El Khalifi announced that he had changed his plans and wanted to carry out a suicide bombing at the Capitol, according to the complaint, which said that as part of the sting, El Khalifi "detonated" what he believed was a real bomb at a quarry in West Virginia, using a cell phone as the trigger. He said he wanted a bigger explosion and chose Friday as the day of the operation, according to the affidavit.
Over the next month, El Khalifi conducted surveillance of the Capitol Building and asked "Hussien" to remotely detonate the bomb he would be wearing if he was stopped by security, it alleges.
Jonathan Dienst of WNBC in New York contributed to this report by NBC News justice correspondent Pete Williams and M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.
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This guy was an idiot who has no capabilities to actually commit an act of terrorism. This moron could never build a bomb, or obtain a bomb himself. The FBI should hardly take credit for offering a simpleton retard a bomb and say will you take it blow something up for us, then arrest him.
I agree its good to get morons like this off the streets, but REALLY? is this worth bragging about? Entrapping an idiot? Let us know when you foil a real terror plot with real terrorists who are smart for a change. This is BS.
Phillyguy.....YOU must be very disappointed for his failure.......just sit on your butt and judge ......EASY
You sound very unhappy because the terrorist's mission had failed and it seems that you support that killer more than our security agents. Something must be wrong with you or you might be one of those "peace-lovers" just writing under a disguise name! Shame on you!
false flag
Massachusetts......I find this very interesting how some people ,are never satisfyed with the security performance of this country, FBI, CIA,never a good tactic for them, never trust the system .........for God sake move to middleast for awhile .It seems like they incline to sympatised with the terorists and trust them more than your own system. I lived in the comunist country for 29 years of my life, I adopted this good country and it hurts me to see countrymen bashing their own like that .How about praising the FBI for the good work and good tactics ,protecting us from the enemies ,they need our support and trust ,they do risk their lifes .I'm sure they make mistakes,missjudgements but how perfect are you...... in your work field ?
@Brenden4 ..... Read the article!!!!! He was NOT an American........he was here illegally.... We need to secure out borders............hellooooooooooooooo, anybody listening, here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
..More from the so-called "peace loving' MOOSLIMS !!!.....
Thank you FBI, JOB WELL DONE !!
Despite what we think of our politicians and how our country is being run, DEATH IS NOT THE ANSWER.
We are supposedly a civilized SOCIETY, let's not stoop to the TERRORISTS way of thinking.
a lot of comments on this sight are appalling! KEEP showing any possible terrorist that WE MEAN BUSINESS!!
Bambi, I agree with you!!! We have a wonderful country and our security agents need all our support....after all, all of our lives are in their hands!
Another "peace loving" killer was about to perform his holy duties dictated by his unholy book called Koran which was written by an evil and ruthless killer named MohamMAD. Great cult, great prophet and great peace loving savages indeed! Shoot him between his legs so that he can never reproduce any terrorists in case a moron judge ever releases him. As long as all Moslems will not denounce their phony religion/ferocious cult and chose and embrace other religion (anything would be better than that cancerous Islam), there won't be any peace on this planet. The followers of this medieval cult made everyone's life miserable like living hell on earth. We need peace very badly and it is time to do something about it.
I don't understand this story, are terrorists becoming so rare in the world, that the FBI has to recruit them and arm them now? And why didn't ICE report his over stay of VISA to law enforcement? Why didn't the FBI arrest him immediately for being an Illegal Alien ? How many more people like him( Illegal), that they don't seem to care about, are out there ? Looks to me 9/11 could happen again.
Because they would have to arrest the other 20 million illegals?
I like the way they point out he was illegal in the country and has over stayed his visa, but what about the other 12 million they know and welcome here? I guess it's only OK for the illegals they say. Good job boys, you saved the capital. What a joke.
e
Tall tree. Short rope.
lets have this televised, cut off his hands , then his feet, let him try to craw then decapate him for all contries to see,. that way they think twice next time., and stop all working visa now.
Yes, let's just stop being America.
Yeah, that's one to pad the numbers so people will be convinced they are in grave danger from people with firecrackers in their underpants/shoes. Gimme a break.
If you're defending the underware bomber - he had enough explosive to blow an aircraft in half.
http://newsone.com/nation/tjstarr/underwear-bomber-umar-farouk-abdulmutallab-sentence/
Good job FBI!
But don't forget the 1993 WTC FBI involvement.
I agree... A.C....the FBI got the evidence they needed...great job!
perhaps in 20-30 years this guy's supporters on this post might like to take him home with them...to Morocco
I'm sure you would all be welcome over there
That's one good way to catch evil Muslims. Now let's see what Eric Holder and the rest of the Czars that are or were members of the Communist Party, do with the another "criminal."
Oh, sweetie, you don't even know what a czar is, do you? Bush had them, Reagan had them, Clinton had them. Do some reading, hon.
Illegally in the US for 12 years????????? What nationality?????????????? Hum. I wonder what happened 12 years ago?
It is really interesting how all of these people who have been caught lately have all been part of an FBI sting. It sounds to me like the FBI has been looking for stupid people that they can trick into something like this and then the FBI gets to look like heroes. I would bet that this guy never would have done anything on his own if it wouldn't have been for the FBI prodding him along.
So you're saying we have hundreds of bases in their countries, kill their innocents everyday, write this off as collateral damage, yet when they retaliate on us, it's terrorism. Violence is wrong in any form, with self-defense as the only exception, and even then, this is usually result of, yes, you guessed it, violence. To stop terrorist attacks on ourselves, maybe we should stop committing terrorist acts on others. The Golden Rule is the only answer, do not accept less, and do NOT let OUR government go to war on Syria, Iran or any other country that poses NO threat whatsoever on us in any way, shape or form.
Ever heard of the UN, jg?
The UN sends in peace-keeping forces. We are PART of those forces. You people in other countries only see us. That's because we are a larger country and send more troops.
Take your crying and bitching to the UN.
Hmmm, Let me guess
Jewish guy---Nope
Catholic guy-- NOPE
Angry Protestant-- Nope
Angry Buddist-- Nope.
Hmm,, I got it
TYPICAL MOOSLIM NUT-CASE................. ding-ding-ding WINNER,,, LOL
That was way to EASY
Regarding the issue of whether or not our security forces should be spying on American citizens: While we need to be vigilant against terrorist attacks, the freedom and liberty of the citizens of this country must not be sacrificed in the name of fighting terrorism. If we surrender our freedom to an all-powerful government that watches everything, then there is no point in protecting it, as it has already been lost.
Benjamin Franklin put it best when he said:
"Those that would give up a little liberty for a little security deserve neither, and will lose both."
Smart guys, those founding fathers.
In my opinion the Patriot Act, while well intentioned, can be subject to abuse by a right-wing government less interested in the rights of the individual and more interested in preserving it's own power. In many, rather startling ways, it is similar to the Enabling Laws instituted by the National Socialist party in Germany in the 1930's, and those that cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Under the Patriot Act federal authorities can detain anyone they wish, for any reason they care to give (or no reason whatsoever), for any amount of time, in a secret location without due process. Exactly how is that fundamentally different than what the Nazis did in Germany?
We believe that such things simply cannot happen here, but we have had our freedom for so long we have taken it for granted, and do not realize that those cherished freedoms must be continually guarded against those that would dispose of them without a second thought in the name of the State.
OMG...the political extremists need to stop talking....who cares what party you are in...we all need to recognize that being in a single party is not a favorable position to be in now. If any person from today went back to the original format of republican or democrat you would think the founding fathers were extremist nut jobs! Thats only due to what they were dealing with at that time. Open your eyes and really listen to what is coming out of your mouth before press the send button!...... Besides every person out there can have few good one liners... that doesn't mean you should fall all over yourself thinking they can do no wrong. Expecially when they are not alive to show you what they are really capable of.
Who wrote the history books and are you 100% sure that they are 100% correct?
Another peace loving muslim who just happens to be in this country illegally. I am shocked.
obama doesn't want illegals deported. The FBI has found a way to at least get them off the streets.
Good job.
Why should he deport them since they is busy stringing barbed wire on your ranchito?
Huh?
It you're trying to show your intelligence, it isn't working.
I'm confused. If President Obama doesn't want to deport illegal immigrants, why has he deported more in his first term than Dubya did in 8 years? Some sort of reverse psychology?
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/09/its-official-obama-has-deported-more-million-unauthorized-immigrants
Clotho: Let me tell you the truth.
I live close to the border. I watch every night as drug mules come across my property. They meet with Americans and transfer their goods. They then walk out onto the road, where they get arrested. The mules are then given a free ride home, to get another load. And obama can tell you about another illegal he has deported.
They "meet' with Americans.....interesting..ya think maybe we are the problem for buying the sh**...not the illegals for bringing it in....
Yup stubby: That is the problem. American druggies.
Good job Eric Holder, the DOJ and the FBI.
Keep sending those guns to Mexico Holder.
Old news. Yawn.
Unproven to boot.
The guns were sent by Obama in 2009. Good luck still blaming Bush in November if that's all you got.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2011/09/28/fast-and-furious-just-might-be-president-obamas-watergate/
Religion of peace