A Florida man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly plotting an attack on the New York Stock Exchange. The FBI said the man planned to plant a bomb near the stock exchange building to “reboot” the US government.

who is the man

The man has been identified as Harun Abdul-Malik Yener of Coral Springs, Florida.

Yener, 30, was charged by the FBI with attempting to use an explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce.

How did the FBI plan?

The FBI began investigating Yener in February based on a tip that he was storing “bomb-making blueprints” in a storage facility.

They found bomb-making blueprints, many timer clocks, electronic circuit boards and other electronic components that could be used to build explosive devices, according to the FBI.

He also searched online for bomb-making material since 2017, according to the FBI.

What was the reason?

The 30-year-old man told undercover FBI agents he had planned to detonate the bomb a week before Thanksgiving. When asked why he chose the New York Stock Exchange building, Yener said “It’s a popular site to target.”

“The stock market, we want to hit this because it’s going to wake people up,” he told undercover FBI agents, according to court documents.

Yener, who was described as “homeless”, wanted to bomb the stock market to “reboot” the US government, explaining that it would be “like going off a little nuke”, killing everyone inside the building, according to court documents. .

With inputs from AP