- Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, graduated from Northeastern and is a U.S. citizen
- He frequently met with 'agents of al Qaeda' for help waging his 'jihad'... but they were really undercover FBI agents
- Arrested after he accepted delivery from undercover agents of grenades, six machine guns and C-4 explosive
- Ferdaus 'played drums in college band and was nicknamed Bollywood'
Bomber: 26-year-old Rezwan Ferdaus has been
accused of plotting to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol with large
remote-controlled aircraft filled with explosives
Musician Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was also charged with attempting to provide support and resources to al Qaeda in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers stationed overseas, U.S. attorney's office in Boston said.
He was caught as a result of an undercover operation.
He was arrested in Framingham after undercover federal agents delivered materials he'd allegedly requested for his plan, including grenades, six machine guns and what he believed was 24 pounds of C-4 explosive.
According to a federal affidavit, Ferdaus said he wanted to deal a psychological blow to Americans, the 'enemies of Allah,' by hitting the Pentagon, which he called 'head and heart of the snake.'
In a conversation with a federal informant, Ferdaus allegedly explained how in ancient times, God uses natural disasters to punish evil civilizations, and he would use them today.
'For us, we've gotta do that,' he said, according to the affidavit. 'Allah has given us the privilege... he punishes them by our hand. We're the ones.'
Terror: Rezwan Ferdaus planned to use remote
control planes lined with C-4 to attack the capital before he was
arrested by authorities. Here: a scale model of a U.S. Navy F-86 Sabre
fighter plane similar to the remote control aircraft he planned to use
Eerie: An amateur surveillance photo of the
Pentagon said to be taken by Ferdaus as he plotted during a trip to
Washington D.C. in May
Musician: Ferdus studied physics at Northeastern
University where he reportedly went by the name 'Bollywood' and played
drums in a Massachusetts band
The Department of Justice also said that 'the public was never in danger from the explosive devices, which were controlled by undercover FBI employees.
It went on to say that Ferdaus was in contact with the undercover officers as they monitored the development of his plot.
The FBI agent in charge of the operation said that more than 30 federal, state and local agencies worked with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force on this arrest.
Ferdus studied physics at Northeastern University where he reportedly went by the name 'Bollywood' and played drums in a Massachusetts band, according to CBS.
The undercover operation started in 2010 and Ferdus frequently met with officers who were pretending to be either members of or recruiters for Al Qaeda.
During their meetings, Ferdus would give the officers mobile phones that he had rigged to be the detonators for IED, that they would then bring overseas and use to kill American soldiers.
After one such meeting, the undercover officer told Ferdus that a previous device had killed three American soldiers and injured four or five more; Ferdus replied 'That was exactly what I wanted'.
A scale model of a U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom fighter
plane handed out by the U.S. Justice Department similar to the one
Ferdaus planned to use in his attack
In one meeting, he said that his desire to kill Americans was so strong that he said 'I just can't stop; there is no other choice for me'.
Ferdaus even allegedly travelled to Washington D.C. last May, gathering pictures of his proposed targets.
Ferdaus planned to use an 'aerial assault' to 'eliminate key locations of the [Pentagon] building ...and leave one area only as a squeeze where the individuals will be isolated, they'll be vulnerable and we can dominate'.
He planned to use planes laden with C-4 and AK-47 machine guns to complete the attack.
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