20-year-old John T. Booker, a Kansas native, was arrested Friday morning as he completed his final preparations for his plan to commit suicide while detonating a car bomb that targeted the U.S. military personnel at Fort Riley near Manhattan, Kansas.
His arrest was part of an FBI investigation and his device was inert, according to the Justice Department.
The Justice Department says that Booker has been charged with one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives), one count of attempting to damage property by means of an explosive, and one count of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
According to the Justice Department statement:
“The complaint alleges Booker told another person ‘that detonating a suicide bomb is his number one aspiration because he couldn’t be captured, all evidence would be destroyed, and he would be guaranteed to hit his target.’ Booker identified Fort Riley as a good target, ‘because the post is famous and there are a lot of soldiers stationed there.’”
“We face a continued threat from individuals within our own borders who may be motivated by a variety of causes,” said U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom. “Anyone who seeks to harm this nation and its people will be brought to justice.”
Grissom speaks with confidence as this is not the first case of home-brewed attempted terrorism in Kansas that has been thwarted. Another man named Terry Loewen, 58, intended to carryout an attack on an airport in 2013. Loewen was an avionics technician who planned to detonate his bomb during an airport’s peak traffic hour so he could maximize the destruction wrought. He had targeted the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, the busiest airport in Kansas.
Both cases were prevented by an undercover FBI investigation and both bombs were rendered inert before they could be utilized. Both men were intending to be martyrs to jihad and both men, inevitably, failed.
As you saw the video concerning Booker above, you can find a video about Loewen below: