A 20-year-old man from Topeka has been arrested by federal authorities on Friday, charged with allegedly plotting to detonate a bomb at the military base at Fort Riley.
John T. Booker, Jr., had been allegedly seeking to attack the military base while working with Islamic State militant group, according to a three-count criminal complaint which has been filed in federal court in Kansas. It was not clear at first if Mr. Booker had a lawyer.
According to authorities, he had been arrested on Friday morning outside the base while he had had been making the final connections to arm what was considered to be a very powerful vehicle-delivery bomb.
Brooker Jr. has been charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempting to damage property with an explosive, and attempting to provide material support to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, a well-established designated foreign terrorist group.
Brooker Jr., while he had been conversing with confidential informants working for the FBI, had said “he wanted to see the fear” in the eyes of the soldiers “as he pushed the button and they ran for their lives,” according to the complaint.
According to the court papers, Brooker Jr. had been recruited by the U.S. Army and had been scheduled to report for basic training a year ago.
The FBI has confirmed that there had not been any security breach at the Fort Riley base, and security personnel at the base were aware of the ongoing investigation. Commonly referred to as the “Big Red One”, Fort Riley is the home of the First Infantry Division.
The FBI first became aware of Brooker Jr. and his suspicious activities on March 15th 2014, when he had been alerted by a citizen about statement that he had posted on Facebook which allegedly included “I will soon be leaving you forever so goodbye! I’m going to wage jihad in hopes that I die.’’
He is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Topeka later on Friday, according to officials.
