Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, man arrested attempting to blow up Federal Reserve
One man was arrested in a federal terrorism sting targeting the Federal Reserve in lower Manhattan.
Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis twitter photo
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, age 21, was arrested Wednesday morning in downtown Manhattan after he allegedly attempted to detonate what he believed to be a 1,000-pound bomb at the New York Federal Reserve Bank on Liberty Street in lower Manhattan’s financial district.
Agents set up a sting and he was caught and taken into custody according to officials.
Authorities say the suspect parked a van that he thought was filled with explosives and then tried to set them off with a cell phone call made from the Millennium Hotel, across from the World Trade Center.
Nafis told undercover agents: “I don’t want something that’s like, small. I just want something big. Something very big … that will shake the whole country, that will make America, not one step ahead, change of policy, and make one step ahead, for the Muslims … that will make us one step closer to run the whole world.
CNN reported this statement by U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch from the Eastern District of New York regarding the alleged terror plot attack:
“As alleged in the complaint, the defendant came to this country intent on conducting a terrorist attack on U.S. soil and worked with single-minded determination to carry out his plan.
The defendant thought he was striking a blow to the American economy. He thought he was directing confederates and fellow believers. At every turn, he was wrong, and his extensive efforts to strike at the heart of the nation’s financial system were foiled by effective law enforcement.
We will use all of the tools at our disposal to stop any such attack before it can occur. We are committed to protecting the safety of all Americans, including the hundreds of thousands who work in New York’s financial district.
I would like to thank our partners at the FBI, NYPD, the other agencies who participate in the JTTF, and the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, for their hard work on this important investigation. I would also like to thank the security teams at the New York Federal Reserve Bank and the New York Stock Exchange for their assistance.”
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[…] York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly says that Federal Reserve Bank bomb plot suspect Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis came to the United States on a student visa with the intent to commit a terrorist act. Rezwanul […]