Thursday, December 16, 2010

Man Charged in Facebook Threat to Bomb DC Metro


by IPT News

Authorities have unsealed a criminal complaint against a Virginia man who threatened to bomb the D.C.-area Metro subway system in postings on Facebook. Awais Younis, also known by his online identities Sundullah "Sunny" Ghilzai and Mohkhanmed Khan, was charged December 6 for making the threats.

FBI agents first learned of Younis on November 28, after someone contacted the New Orleans field office regarding "a person making several threats to use explosives in the Washington, D.C. area," including the Metro transit system, an affidavit filed with the court said. In an online chat, Younis described plans to build a pipe bomb. He said he knew "what type of shrapnel would cause the greatest damage." Younis also mentioned placing a pipe bomb under a sewer head in Georgetown in order to maximize casualties.

The affidavit offers no information indicating whether Younis acted on his threats.

On December 5, Younis allegedly lashed out at his unnamed Facebook friend, saying "BITCH I know what you are up too and you better stop if you know what is good for you!!!!! … you are sticking your nose where it doesn't belong into something bigger then you and I. that is the problem with Americans they cant leave well enough alone until something happends then they sit there wondering why we dropped the twin towers like a bad habit hahaha. im telling you right now you are going to regret doing what you did. for your peace i hope what i am hearing is all lies."

The complaint was filed the following day.

Younis was a recent graduate of George Mason University, where convicted terrorist Zachary Chesser attended. He also spent time studying at the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University. He was also a summer intern for three months in the Department of the Interior.

Facebook was also a major source of information about another plot, Muslim convert Antonio Martinez's attempted bombing an armed forces recruiting center in Cantonsville, Maryland.

This is the second arrest involving the DC Metro in two months. Ahmed Farooque is alleged to have conspired with an FBI informant, whom he believed was an al-Qaida agent, to bomb the DC metro system.




Original URL: http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2010/12/man-charged-in-facebook-threat-to-bomb-dc-metro

IPT News

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.

1 comment:

Rhonda said...

I am glad that even a threat on Facebook is being taken seriously.

Post a Comment