Former US solider charged with plotting ‘ISIS-inspired’ attack to kill ‘innocent victims’
A FORMER US soldier has been charged with attempting to help would-be jihadis plot an ISIS-inspired attack.
By CHARLIE BAYLISS
Express.co.uk
Wed, Feb 22, 2017
Robert Lorenzo Hester Jr was caught as part of a covert FBI operation who developed a fake plan to target Kansas City, according to criminal complaints.
Missouri-born Hester allegedly told undercover officials he was “down” with the plan to hit the city.
US Attorney Tammy Dickinson said: “First on social media, then during face-to-face meetings with an undercover FBI employee, this defendant repeatedly expressed his intent to engage in acts of violent jihad against the United States.”
She added that the 25-year-old soldier, who was discharged in 2013 after less than a year, “believed he was part of an ISIS-sponsored terrorist attack that would result in the deaths and injuries of many innocent victims”.
An undercover agent told Hester his terror cell was plotting to kill “a lot of people “ in an attack “10 times more” severe than the Boston Marathon attack.
Hester rejected the agent’s offer to walk away from the plans.
FBI officials targeted Hester after being tipped off about his social media posts where he expressed his support for radical Islam and violence.
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