ISIL-Inspired Florida Man Charged for Alleged Backpack Bomb Plot

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A Florida resident, allegedly inspired by ISIL terrorists, has been charged for plotting to use a backpack bomb on a beach in Key West, Florida, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a statement on Tuesday.

“Harlem Suarez, a self-professed ISIL adherent, knowingly attempted to use a weapon of mass destruction — a backpack bomb — in the United States,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin said in the statement.

Suarez, 23, allegedly purchased materials to make a “timer bomb” that he planned to hide in a backpack and bury at a public beach in Key West, and then detonate it remotely with a cellphone, according to the DOJ.

Prior to Suarez’s arrest on Monday, he had come under the FBI’s attention in April after they found his Facebook post with “extremist rhetoric” and promoting the ISIL, the statement said.

Currently, some 20,000 foreign fighters from across the globe have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State, according to US intelligence.