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Islamic convert tried to blow up Maryland military centre

Man posted jihad plans on Facebook

A 21-year-old construction worker from Baltimore, MD was arrested Wednesday for allegedly trying to blow up a U.S. military recruitment centre in nearby Catonsville. Antonio Martinez, who had recently converted to Islam and had began calling himself Muhammad Hussain, posted his desire to commit violent jihad on Facebook. On Wednesday, he tried to dial a cell-phone that he believed would blow up an SUV-bomb at the recruitment centre. It was a dummy supplied by the FBI. His case mirrors the recently thwarted plot in Portland, Oregon where a 19-year-old American was arrested using a dummy car bomb. In a Facebook posting from Oct. 14 Martinez wrote that “it was his dream to be among the ranks of the mujahedeen” and that “all he thinks about is jihad,” reports the LA Times. The investigation began Oct. 8 when an FBI informant noticed suspicious Facebook postings and the two struck up a conversation. He then told his the FBI agent of his desire to attack “anything military” and to shoot U.S. Soldiers. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

L.A. Times

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