A 19-year-old Jordanian bent on committing "violent jihad" was arrested Thursday after undercover FBI agents foiled his attempt to bomb an office tower in Dallas, Texas, authorities announced late Thursday.
Authorities say a suspect tried to set off a bomb attached to a vehicle at the base of the Fountain Plaza tower.
Authorities say a suspect tried to set off a bomb attached to a vehicle at the base of the Fountain Plaza tower.
Federal officials said Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, who entered the U.S. illegally and lived in Texas, tried to set off an improvised explosive device attached to a vehicle at the base of the 60-story Fountain Plaza office tower.
Counterterrorism officials arrested Smadi on Thursday before publicly disclosing a similar, but unrelated, terrorism sting arrest in Springfield, Illinois, Wednesday. A federal law enforcement official familiar with the cases said authorities feared word of the Illinois arrest could tip off the Texas suspect of an undercover sting operation.
In a criminal complaint filed with Smadi's arrest, counterterrorism officials said the suspect had been under "continuous surveillance" because of oft-stated determination to inflict damage and death against the United States, which he deemed to be an enemy of Islam.read more
