A Lebanese immigrant was arrested after placing what he believed to be a bomb in a trash bin outside a Chicago nightclub in an alleged plot to overthrow the mayor, officials said Monday.
Sami Samir Hassoun, 22, was under regular surveillance and attempted to carry out the plot with the help of an FBI informant who introduced him to undercover FBI agents, the FBI said in a press release.
Officials emphasized that "at no time was the public in danger" and that there was "no indication that any foreign or domestic terror groups were in any way connected to this plot or inspired Hassoun."
The FBI directed their informant to befriend Hassoun in the spring of 2009 based on information that was not contained in the criminal complaint.
He told the informant in June 2010 that he wanted to "commit acts of violence in Chicago for monetary gain and to cause political transformation," the 26-page complaint said. |