Cleric: Man charged in Kansas bomb plot is mentally ill
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Topics: From the Wires, News
This 2010 yearbook photo provided by Topeka Public Schools from a Topeka West High School shows John Booker. Booker, accused of planning a suicide attack at Fort Riley, was arrested Friday, April 10, 2015, while trying to arm what he thought was a bomb near the Kansas military base as part of a plot to support the Islamic State group, federal prosecutors said. (AP Photo/Topeka Public Schools)(Credit: AP)TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A man accused of plotting a suicide bomb attack on a Kansas military base to help the Islamic State group is mentally ill and was acting strangely days before his arrest, according to a Muslim cleric who said he was counseling him at the FBI’s request.
John T. Booker Jr., 20, of Topeka, was charged Friday with planning a suicide attack at Fort Riley, about 70 miles west of Topeka. Prosecutors allege he told an FBI informant he wanted to kill Americans and engage in violent jihad on behalf of the terrorist group, and said he believed such an attack was justified because the Quran “says to kill your enemies wherever they are,” according to a criminal complaint.
Authorities arrested Booker as he was trying to arm what he thought was a 1,000 pound bomb outside the Army post, according to prosecutors. The criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Topeka charges him with three crimes, including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
The top federal prosecutor for Kansas also charged another Topeka man, Alexander E. Blair, 28, with failing to report Booker’s plans to authorities. The complaint alleges that Blair and Booker shared some “extremist views” and that Blair loaned Booker money to rent space to build and store a bomb.
Imam Omar Hazim of the Islamic Center of Topeka told The Associated Press that two FBI agents brought Booker to him last year for counseling, hoping to turn the young man away from radical beliefs. Hazim said the agents told him that Booker suffered from bipolar disorder, characterized by unusual mood swings that can affect functioning.
Hazim said he expressed concerns to the FBI about allowing Booker to move freely in the community after their first encounter.
Hazim said he later heard that two others were involved in a bombing plot with Booker. He said the FBI told him they were undercover FBI agents and that the sting was arranged to get Booker “off the streets.”