A 21-year-old Bangladeshi man was arrested Wednesday in an elaborate FBI sting operation after authorities said he attempted to detonate a fake car bomb outside the Federal Reserve building in Manhattan.
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis was arrested on terrorism charges and was presented before the federal court in New York after repeatedly using a cellphone to blow up material that he thought was a bomb in a van parked outside the New York Fed, officials said. He was arrested by FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force and is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda.
The federal agency said Nafis, an admirer of al Qaeda, came to the United States on a student visa this year for the purpose of conducting a terrorist attack on US soil. The FBI and New York Police Department came to know about his plan when he tried to recruit an FBI informant to form a terrorist cell.
"Nafis also actively sought out al Qaeda contacts within the United States to assist him in carrying out an attack," FBI said in a statement. "Unbeknownst to Nafis, one of the individuals he attempted to recruit was actually a source for the FBI. Through the investigation, FBI agents and NYPD detectives working with the JTTF were able to closely monitor Nafis as he attempted to implement his plan."
After the sting began in July, Nafis proposed several spots for his attack to the FBI agent posing as an al Qaeda facilitator, including the New York Stock Exchange. Most of their communications took place through Facebook.
Ultimately, Nafis decided to conduct a bombing operation against the New York Federal Reserve Bank. In a written statement intended to claim responsibility for the terrorist bombing of the Federal Reserve Bank on behalf of al Qaeda, Nafis wrote that he wanted to "destroy America" and that he believed the most efficient way to accomplish this goal was to target America's economy," FBI said.
FBI said it controlled the "entire operation to ensure the safety of the public and New Yorkers and said the public "was never at risk."
"It is important to emphasize that the public was never at risk in this case, because two of the defendant's 'accomplices' were actually an FBI source and an FBI undercover agent. The FBI continues to place the highest priority on preventing acts of terrorism," FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Galligan said.