20-Year-Old Man From Florida Indicted for Plotting to Bomb Sept. 11 Memorial

By Komfie Manalo
September 11, 2001 terror attacks
September 11, 2001 terror attacks. History.com

A 20-year-old man from Florida was indicted on Thursday for allegedly plotting to bomb an upcoming Sept. 11, 2001 attacks memorial, various media reported.

The US Attorney's Office identified the suspect as Joshua Ryne Goldberg of Orange Park, Florida who was arrested and formally charged with distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction, the Philippine Daily Inquirer said. If convicted, Goldberg is facing up to 20 years imprisonment in a Federal prison.

A separate report by the USA Today said Goldberg passed information to an FBI informant posing as an online associate, information on bomb-making that would be planted in Kansas City, Missouri near the location of a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in U.S. soil.

Data showed that Goldberg passed information to the informant between July and September on how to manufacture a pressure-cooker device filled with nails and metal dipped in rat poison to be used as bomb and detonated during the memorial ceremony. Goldberg was also accused of instructing the informant to place the bomb near the location of the upcoming memorial.

Court documents revealed that federal authorities were able to trace Goldberg through a Twitter account that writes posts to the Islamic State-inspired attack in Garland, north-east of Dallas, Texas earlier this year during a "draw the prophet Muhammad" contest.

The police have killed the two gunmen in the Texas attack.

According to the complaint filed against Goldberg, the suspect allegedly posted lengthy tweet on June 9 boasting that he encouraged the attack in Texas. Goldberg reported posted using the name, Auswitness. "I have a vast network of mujahideen around the world, and will continue to inspire and coordinate jihad attacks around the world."

After the post, the FBI arranged for a confidential source to connect with Auswitness starting in July where Goldberg started providing information on bomb-making. The instructions from Auswitness came in daily until his arrest on Wednesday at his Florida home, the authorities said.

"Put the backpack near the crowd,'' Auswitness allegedly posted on Aug. 27. The message was providing instructions to the information after they have agreed that Kansas City is the best target for the next attack because of its proximity to the informant. "But make sure it's in a place where the (police) won't think anything of it," Auswitness further added.

Court documents against the suspect stated, "Joshua Goldberg also admitted that he instructed the individual to place the bomb at an upcoming memorial in Kansas City. In general...Goldberg claimed that he intended for the (informant) to either kill himself creating the bomb or, if not, that (Goldberg) intended to alert law enforcement just prior'' to detonation so that Goldberg might receive credit for averting the attack.

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