Would-Be Bomber Caught in FBI Sting
CNN reports:
A 22-year-old Lebanese citizen was arrested Sunday morning in an FBI sting operation after he placed a backpack he believed contained an explosive device near a trash can on a crowded street corner, according to the FBI.
Sami Samir Hassoun was charged with a felony count each of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted use of an explosive device, according to the FBI's Chicago field office.
Hassoun, a legal permanent resident of the United States, wanted to cause political upheaval in Chicago, according to an FBI affidavit regarding its investigation.
Undercover agents posing as potential funders for Hassoun's plans told him they would pay him and they wanted "to change how our country [i.e. the United States] treats our people back home," but Hassoun said that "mine is a kind of a different concept than this."
"Hassoun explained he saw attacking Chicago as a means of creating chaos to gain political control of the city and its sources of revenue," the affidavit said.
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