A Florida man has been charged with plotting to blow up the New York Stock Exchange to “reboot” the U.S. government.
The FBI arrested Harun Abdul-Malik Yener on Wednesday, the bureau said in an affidavit in Florida federal court.
The investigation into Yener began in February with a tip he was storing potential bombmaking materials in a storage unit in Coral Springs, Florida, according to the affidavit. Inside, agents found bombmaking sketches, watches with timers, electronic circuit boards, and other electronics, per the court documents.
Yener later allegedly told undercover agents he planned to attach a list of demands to the attack he hoped would be shared with media outlets, including caaling for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants and the end of arms sales to “foreign entities.” He recorded the demand statement earlier this month and told an undercover FBI employee, “I feel like [Osama] Bin Laden,” the deceased Al Qaeda leader.
The affidavit describes Yener as unhoused.
During a March interview with law enforcement, Yener reportedly told agents that members of ISIS had previously tried to recruit him in 2015, an effort that was unsuccessful. He later said he’d also tried to join the Boogaloo Boys and Proud Boys but was rejected due to a “desire to pursue martyrdom.”
Yener then allegedly claimed he was “just waiting for some kind of hole to open up” to attack the United States.
Further investigation revealed Yener shared YouTube videos about making explosives and was fired from a restaurant last year for threatening to bring guns to work and shoot his co-workers, claiming he “feels the way the Parkland shooter feels,” per the affidavit.
During conversations with confidential sources and undercover FBI agents, Yener allegedly revealed further details, including his desire to start a “revolution” and his eventual conclusion to attack the stock exchange with an improvised explosive device before Thanksgiving to “wake people up.”
Yener was arrested on Wednesday and is charged with attempting to use an improvised explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate or foreign commerce.
The Independent was not immediately able to contact Yener, who is being tried in the Southern District of Florida, for comment.
