A man who planned to blow himself up in Washington DC on the day of next month’s mid-term elections has been held and charged, US prosecutors say.<\/p>\n
They say Paul Rosenfeld, 56, built a 200lb (91kg) explosive device and wanted to detonate it on the National Mall in the capital on 6 November.<\/p>\n
They say he wanted to draw attention to his belief in “sortition” – a political theory that advocates the random selection of government officials.<\/p>\n
He could be jailed for 20 years.<\/p>\n
Mr Rosenfeld – who waived his right to remain silent – was charged with two counts of manufacturing and transporting explosives on Wednesday, the prosecutors say.<\/p>\n
“Had he been successful, Rosenfeld’s alleged plot could have claimed the lives of innocent bystanders and caused untold destruction,” said Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).<\/p>\n
“Fortunately, his plans were thwarted by the quick action of a concerned citizen and the diligent work of a host of our law enforcement partners and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force,” he added.<\/p>\n
Law enforcement agents say the huge explosive device was found at the suspect’s home in Tappan, New York state, on 9 October.<\/p>\n
This came after an individual had received letters and text messages from the suspect about the plot, and had alerted the authorities.<\/p>\n
Mr Rosenfeld later admitted that he had ordered large quantities of black powder, an explosive substance, on the internet and had conducted test detonations, the prosecutors say.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"