A 20-year-old Floridian man has been arrested after allegedly planning a bombing to take place in Kansas City during a 9/11 memorial service.
The FBI raided the Jacksonville home of Joshua Ryne Goldberg and took him into custody shortly after. He is accused of sending instructions on how to make a pressure cooker bomb and if convicted, could face up to 20 years in prison.
Goldberg used a direct messaging application under the name AusWitness to contact a confidential informant, telling him to dip nails, screws and glass in rat poison and pack it into a pressure cooker bomb to kill as many people as possible.
“Have you decided what kind of attack to carry out on 9/11?” he asked. “We could make pipe bombs and detonate them at a large public event.”
According to court documents, the bomb’s target would have been Sunday at the Kansas City Stair Climb, a 9/11 memorial event at the Town Pavilion. The event is particularly popular among firefighters, who take part in honoring fellow firefighters who died during the September 11 attacks.
FBI agents believe that the informant misled Goldberg into thinking he would participate.
According to retired FBI agent Michael Tabman, “The reason Kansas City was brought into it was because the informant himself mentioned he is here in Kansas City, which is why the subject said that, but he did that most likely under the direction of the FBI.”
According to the complaint, Goldberg suggested the informant put the backpack near the crowd.
Despite the scare, the event is scheduled to go on, and expects to draw a large crowds of police and firefighters.
Florida Man Arrested, Planned Bombing in Kansas City During 9/11 Memorial
