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An Ohio man who had expressed his support for Al Qaeda and his desire to kill American soldiers and told a secret agent that he wanted to attack a July 4th parade in Cleveland at been arrested Sunday, according to the authorities. The agents began to investigate the man, Demetrius N. Pitts, 48, after discovering messages that he sent to Facebook by espousing anti-American views and believing that Muslims "should always be ready to fight". An attack became clearer during the conversations that took place in recent weeks with the undercover agent, federal officials said in an announcement on Monday
. Pitts told the agent, who pretended to be an Al Qaeda sympathizer, that he wanted to launch bombs and launch attacks in several cities in the United States, starting with Cleveland the day of independence, according to the authorities. It is not known, however, that he had the ability to act on his plans, the F.B.I. "I am trying to find something that would shake them up on July 4th," Pitts said at a June 22 meeting with the undercover agent, according to a copy of a federal criminal complaint.
million. Pitts was arrested Sunday morning when he met again with the agent hoping to plan a car bomb attack in Cleveland with the help of al Qaeda. He has been accused of attempting to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, which incurs a 20-year prison sentence if he is found guilty.
Stephen Anthony, special agent of the FBI office in Cleveland, praised the work of local police and federal agents in the investigation.
"The forces of order can not wait and wait for Mr. Pitts to commit a violent attack," Anthony said at a press conference Monday. "We do not have the luxury of hoping that a person decides not to hurt someone or induce others to act."
Anthony said that the investigation on Mr. Pitts, a US citizen who also used the names Abdur Raheem Rahfeeq and Salahadeen Osama Waleed, began with the office's office in Cincinnati, where Mr. Pitts lived. Federal agents in Cleveland recently took over the case when Mr. Pitts moved to the nearby town of Maple Heights.
The F.B.I. Mr. Pitts learned of Mr. Pitts in December 2015 when, according to authorities, he sent a message on Facebook using the name of Abdur Raheem Rahfeeq to an obscure California talk show, saying, "The United States will be destroyed, Allahu Akbar. "
The FBI infiltration Agent was introduced to Mr. Pitts this year after he "expressed the desire to meet an al-Qaeda brother," according to the criminal complaint.The officer and Mr. Pitts himself met for the first time on June 15 and discussed possible attacks and methods during a series of meetings that followed
"Put a bomb, a bomb, a bomb, a bomb, things here" Pitts said, discussing a hypothetical attack on military bases with the agent, according to court records. "I mean, just like the way the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor."
It was unclear if Mr. Pitt was represented by counsel and Mr. Pitt's relatives were not able to be contacted for comment
Although Mr. Pitts expressed a desire to launch an attack, according to the FBI, it was not clear whether he had the ability, resources or expertise to carry out an attack. In his conversations with the undercover officer, Mr. Pitts disclosed, often inconsistently, seemingly improbable ways of hurting people, according to the transcripts included in the criminal complaint.
He said that he could slice people with a machete and send their parts to a pig farm for pigs to eat. He said he could behead the soldiers and throw his head in front of the military bases, forcing all the bases in America to close their doors until the "heads stop turning"
. Pitts also discussed the possibility of hiding explosives in pipes under houses, placing explosives in chicken eggs to attack Philadelphia and attaching bombs to toys that could be offered to military children during from the Independence Day parade in Cleveland.
But Mr. Pitts also said that he had limits. According to the court records, he told the undercover officer that he would have trouble buying vehicles for a car bomb because he would need to show a driving license.
Anthony said that F.B.I. There was "no information" that Mr. Pitts had traveled abroad to meet al Qaeda or that he had access to explosives or weapons. "His precise ability to do specific things, again, we may never know," he said.
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