http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1369545Bottom line: A local Mass man named Bob O'Reilly plotted to kill...oh wait his name was Rezwan Ferdaus and a scumbag muslim. Imagine that.
An Ashland Muslim man was arrested today for what authorities said was an al-Qaeda-inspired plot to turn the tables on the U.S. military by targeting the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol with unmanned drones packed with explosives.
The 26-year-old Northeastern University grad with a degree in physics is also accused of trying to rig cell phones to blow up improvised explosive devices to maim or kill U.S. soldiers serving overseas.
The suspect, Rezwan Ferdaus, intended to stuff the remote-controlled aircraft with C-4 plastic explosives, the feds said today. He was also accused of giving undercover FBI agents mobile phones rigged to “act as an electrical switch for an IED” to kill U.S. soldiers serving overseas. He believed those FBI agents were “members or recruiters” for al-Qaeda.
He faces charges of attempting to provide material support to terrorists — specifically al-Qaeda — to launch those attacks, the U.S. Attorney in Boston Carmen M. Ortiz said. He diabolical plot, feds added, was all contained on a computer thumb drive that he shared with undercover agents.
Ortiz said today that “Mr. Ferdaus had long planned to commit violent acts against our country” that included using three “small drone planes” filled with explosives and guided by GPS equipment. He plotted to have six people, including himself whom he described as an “amir” — an Arabic term for leader — to carry out the plot, feds said.
Ferdaus, an American citizen and graduate of Ashland High School, was caught in an FBI sting that had him bragging he wanted to unleash a “psychological” direct hit on America. He was arrested today at a storage facility in Framingham after taking delivery of what he thought were C-4 explosives, grenades and AK-47 assault rifles.
“I just can’t stop; there is no other choice for me,” Ferdaus is accused of telling FBI undercover agents during the sting that began last January. He reportedly began plotting his jihad in early 2010.
One of the planes Ferdaus intended to use was 68 inches long with a 44-inch wingspan and was capable of traveling up to 160 mph and guided by GPS, the indictment reads.
Ferdaus made his initial appearance this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Worcester, but did not enter a plea. He was appointed a federal public defender: Catherine Byrne. He is scheduled to return there Monday at 3 p.m. for a detention hearing.
Authorities said that after blowing off the dome of the Capitol, Ferdaus planned to go in with AK-47s, corner any survivors and shoot them dead. As for whether any additional arrests are pending, the U.S. Attorney’s Office called the investigation “ongoing.”
