E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSFBI agents have arrested a teen they say planned to detonate a car bomb outside a bar in downtown Chicago. NBC's Michelle Franzen reports.
An 18-year-old from Chicago was arrested during an undercover operation in which agents pretending to be extremists provided him with a phony car bomb that he intended to detonate outside a downtown bar, the U.S. District Attorney's office in Chicago said Saturday.
Adel Daoud of Chicago's Hillside suburb was arrested Friday night.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release Saturday the device was inert and the public was never at risk.
Daoud was charged in court Saturday with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to damage and destroy a building with an explosive.
Federal prosecutors say the FBI began monitoring him after he posted material online about "violent jihad" and the killing of Americans.
"About 7:15 p.m. yesterday, Daoud met the undercover agent in Villa Park and they drove to downtown Chicago," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. "During the drive, Daoud led the undercover agent in a prayer that Daoud and the agent succeed in their attack, kill many people, and cause destruction. They entered a parking lot where a Jeep containing the purported explosive device was parked. Daoud then drove the Jeep out of the parking lot and parked the vehicle in front of a bar in downtown Chicago, which was the target that he had previously selected. According to the affidavit, Daoud exited the vehicle and walked to an alley approximately a block away, and in the presence of the undercover agent,attempted to detonate the device by pressing the triggering mechanism. He was then arrested."
A teenager is accused placing a fake bomb, supplied by the FBI, near a Chicago bar. NBC's John Yang reports.
A preliminary court hearing was set for Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Suspected anti-Islam filmmaker questioned by Feds
- Obama: US has 'profound respect for people of all faiths'
- 144,000 offshore wind turbines could power East Coast, study says
- Pivotal Civil War battle revisited ahead of 150th anniversary
- 'Free money' for Conn. fishermen amid eco-disaster?
- 83-year-old held over hit-and-run crash that killed boy, 6
- 'Half of me died with him': Family seeks answers over death of Fla. businessman
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook