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Kansas Man John Booker Indicted in ISIS-Inspired Bomb Plot Against Fort Riley

John T. Booker Jr., 20, was arrested last Friday in an alleged plot to carry out a suicide bombing at an Army installation, prosecutors said.
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/ Source: NBC News

A federal grand jury in Kansas has indicted a Topeka man on charges he planned to carry out a suicide bombing at an Army installation on behalf of the terror group ISIS.

John T. Booker Jr., 20, was arrested on the morning of Friday April 10 outside of Fort Riley as he allegedly tried to connect wires to what he believed was a bomb inside a van. The device was non-explosive and was provided by an FBI informant, the government said.

Booker was indicted on one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives), one count of attempting to damage property by means of an explosive and one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas said. He could be imprisoned for life if convicted.

A second man, Alexander E. Blair, was arrested in the plot and charged with learning of Booker's plans and failing to tell authorities. The arrests were one of several recent cases of Americans being charged with trying to support ISIS from the United States.

On Thursday, federal charges were filed against an Ohio man who not only allegedly went to Syria and received military training, but returned to Columbus and talked about carrying an attack in the U.S.

IN-DEPTH

— Phil Helsel