FBI arrests man suspected of plotting attack on Capitol
By
Laura RozenSenior Foreign Affairs Reporter
By
Laura Rozen |
The Envoy – 3 hrs ago
The FBI on Friday arrested a man suspected of planning to carry out a suicide attack against the U.S. Capitol. But the would-be suicide bomber, identified as a Moroccan national, was the target of a lengthy FBI undercover investigation and the public was never in any danger, FBI and Justice Department officials stressed.
The man, identified as Amine el-Khalifi, 29, was expected to be indicted on federal terrorism-related charges in Alexandria, Virginia, officials said.
A would-be suicide vest the man had worn--reportedly given to him by FBI undercover agents posing as accomplices in the sting--as he approached the Capitol Friday had been previously rendered harmless, the Justice Department said.
"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," Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd told Yahoo News in a statement Friday.
"FBI agents today arrested an individual in the vicinity of the Capitol," Andrew Ames, spokesman for the FBI Washington D.C. field office, told Yahoo News Friday. "The arrest was the culmination of an extensive operation during which the individual was closely monitored. At no time was the public in any danger."
Mike Levine, who
first reported the arrest on Fox News, said that the man became the target of an FBI undercover terrorism investigation after he allegedly expressed interest in carrying out an attack.
Khalifi, 29, had been living in Alexandria, Virginia on an expired visa, and had been under investigation for a year, U.S. officials
told the Washington Post.