A 20-year-old Topeka man has been charged with attempting to bomb Fort Riley in support of the Islamic State terrorist group.
John T. Booker Jr. was apprehended this (FRI) morning while making final preparations for the suicide car bomb attack. A criminal complaint says Booker had been in contact with FBI sources.
U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says there was never any danger to the public.
“The perimeter of Fort Riley was never penetrated, there was never any concern on our part that he would get onto the fort and, unbeknownst to him, the materials that were used to make up this bomb were inert,” says Grissom.
Booker is charged with three federal crimes and faces a penalty of life in prison. Grissom says Booker made a video to be played after his death that warns the families of military members that soldiers are targets for the Islamic State.
Grissom says Booker himself identified Fort Riley as the target because it is a well-known place containing many soldiers.
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(VERSION TWO)
Authorities have charged a 20-year-old Topeka man with attempting to bomb Fort Riley in a suicide attack. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says John T. Booker Jr. was planning the attack to support the group the Islamic State.
Grissom says there wasn’t any danger to the public because what Booker thought was a real bomb was actually fake.
Grissom says Booker was apprehended this morning near Junction City.
“It’s alleged that he told another individual that detonating a suicide bomb was his number one aspiration because he couldn’t be captured, all the evidence would be destroyed and he would be guaranteed to hit his target,” says Grissom.
A criminal complaint says Booker had been in contact with FBI sources since last year.
Booker is charged with three federal crimes and faces a penalty of life in prison.
Grissom says Booker himself identified Fort Riley as the target because it is a well-known place containing many soldiers.