Kansas man charged in bomb plot after FBI sting

A Kansas man was arrested in a federal sting operation as he allegedly made final preparations to set off a truck bomb at the U.S. Army base at Fort Riley.

John T. Booker, 20, is the latest American to be charged with terrorism-related crimes for allegedly planning attacks in the U.S. or seeking to help Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, with two New York women having been charged earlier this month.

After posting messages on Facebook last year proclaiming he was going to wage a jihad and hoped to die, Booker repeated the claims to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in an interview, according to a statement in a criminal complaint from Mark Engholm of the FBI.

Two undercover federal sources, including one posing as a sheikh wanting to commit terrorist acts in the U.S., later contacted Booker about potential attacks, Engholm said.

They worked with Booker on a plan to use a truck bomb on the U.S. Army base, according to Engholm.

Booker allegedly recorded a "martyr video" in which he told people to get their loved ones out of the U.S. armed forces because "Islamic state was coming for them." Materials used to make the bomb were inert and the army base was never in actual danger, Kansas U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said at a news conference.

Booker faces three criminal charges, including an attempt to use a weapon of mass destruction, and a possible life- sentence if convicted on the most serious charges.

He doesn't yet have a lawyer representing him.

The case is U.S. v. Booker, 15-MJ-5039, U.S. District Court, District of Kansas (Topeka).

--With assistance from Joe Lambe in Kansas City, Kansas.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in federal court in Chicago at aharris16bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhythabloomberg.net Joe Schneider, Charles Carter