A Queens man was arrested for allegedly attempting to detonate what he believed was a real bomb at the New York Federal Reserve Bank in Lower Manhattan this morning, said the FBI.
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 21, of Jamaica, traveled to the U.S. this January specifically to take part in a terrorist attack, said the agency.
The Federal Reserve Bank was one of several targets Nafis was considering, and in a written statement said he wanted to “destroy America” and, according to the FBI, believed the most efficient way to accomplish this goal was to target America’s economy.
The Bangladeshi national, who reportedly has overseas connections to Al-Qaeda, tried to recruit individuals to help him in the attack. One of those men was an FBI source.
The undercover FBI agent gave him non-working explosives and later met Nafis on the morning of Wednesday, October 17, and witnessed Nafis assembling the bomb. The two then drove together to the Federal Reserve.
Nafis unsuccessfully tried to detonate the bomb, then was arrested by authorities.
He has been charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to Al-Qaeda, and is scheduled to appear at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn this afternoon.
