FBI officers thwarted a terror plot in Tampa, Fla., by a naturalized U.S. citizen who said he wanted to “die the Islamic way,” according to a court document charging the man with “attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction” against the United States.
Sami Osmakac, a 25-year-old man who hails from former Yugoslavia (Kosovo), was arrested Saturday night while attempting to car bomb an Irish bar in Tampa, according to a compliant filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ), after creating a video in which he explained that he “wanted ‘pay back’ for the wrongs he felt were done to Muslims,” the complaint alleges. He was also considering a car bombing a local sheriff’s office, and carrying out a suicide attack on night clubs in the area.
He hoped to take hostages, before the suicide attack, that would allow him to demand that the FBI “kuffar” (an Islamic word for “infidels,” according to DOJ) “release whoever I demand [they] release.”
The FBI was tipped about Osmakac in September, 2011, by a paid informant who reported that he had requested “flags representing Al Qaeda,” according to the complaint affidavit. “We are grateful for the Muslim community’s continued support,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Ibison said in a statement announcing the arrest and charges. “This incident clearly demonstrated how citizens can help law enforcement keep our neighborhoods and our nation safe.”
Osmakac had purchased an explosive belt, a 100-pound car bomb, a sack of grenades, and machine guns. On January 1st, 2011, Osmakac affirmed his intention to carry out the attacks. “We all have to die, so why not die the Islamic way?” he asked the informant rhetorically. The explosives and weapons “had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement” before Osmakac received them.
“They saying they like 3 trillion in debt, they like 200 trillion in debt, and after all this money they spending for homeland security and all this, this is gonna be crushing them,” Osmakac is quoted in the complaint as saying about the car bomb. “This is gonna terrify them.”
He is scheduled to appear in a Florida federal court today at 2 pm. You can read the complain below.
