The FBI has arrested a Florida man and charged him with planning to set off a bomb at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Harun Abdul-Malik Yener is charged with attempting to use an explosive device to harm or destroy a building used in interstate commerce, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
As reported by the FBI, he allegedly videoed himself saying,
“I feel like [Osama] Bin Laden”
a reference to the former al-Qaeda leader responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the US. Federal officials started investigating him in February after acquiring a tip that he was holding bomb-making supplies inside an unlocked warehouse unit. Agents scoured the facility in Coral Springs and stated they discovered bombmaking sketches, multiple watches with timers, electronic circuit panels, and other electronics, court documents stated.
According to authorities, he also allegedly led numerous internet searches for how to make bombs and told agents he prepared to wear a disguise during the attack and unleash a recorded message to the media. Investigators expressed Mr. Yener’s alleged
“motivation for bombing the NYSE was to achieve a ‘reboot’ and/or ‘reset’ of the United States government.”.
Mr. Yener is stated to have told undercover agents that the blast would be
“‘like a small nuke went off’ and that ‘[a]nything outside’ the installation ‘will be wiped out’ and ‘anything inside there would be killed’.”
He told the FBI officers he was waiting for the proper moment to take action within the U.S.
“I am just waiting for some kind of hole to open up and I can go, ah, there it is—I’ll know it when I see it,”
He stated, according to the complaint. Moreover, he allegedly cited a YouTube channel with videos describing how to create explosives from household things. The detention is the latest in the last few months involving US national security.
