The FBI confirmed the man had been detained following a long running FBI terrorism investigation, while media reports said he was Moroccan and had been apprehended in connection with an alleged plot to carry out a suicide attack.
“Explosives the suspect allegedly sought to use in connection with the plot had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement and posed no threat to the public,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
The arrest was “in connection with a terrorism investigation,” and “was the culmination of an undercover operation during which the suspect was closely monitored by law enforcement,” the FBI added.
Fox News reported that the suspect was of Moroccan descent and had expressed interest in an attack on the Capitol to undercover FBI agents, who he had thought were with Al-Qaeda.
The police force responsible for security at the Capitol said it was intimately involved in the “lengthy and extensive” operation from the start, and “at no time was the public or congressional community in any danger.”
Authorities declined to provide further detail on the arrest.
The Washington Post, citing an unnamed U.S. official, said the suspect was in his thirties and was picked up near Labor Department offices on his way to the Capitol for what he thought would be a suicide attack.
He was carrying with him a vest that he believed was packed with explosives but that actually contained harmless material, the newspaper reported.
Source : National Post
