U.S. Army veteran charged with plotting to bomb white nationalist rally

[webfact]

U.S. Army veteran charged with plotting to bomb white nationalist rally

By Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman

 

Mark Steven Domingo, 26, a U.S. veteran of the war in Afghanistan, charged in a federal criminal complaint with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, is seen in this DMV photo released by FBI in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 29, 2019. Courtesy FBI/Handout via REUTERS

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. combat veteran of the war in Afghanistan who prosecutors say plotted to detonate multiple nail bombs at a Los Angeles-area white nationalist rally, seeking to cause mass casualties, was arrested in an FBI sting operation, federal prosecutors said on Monday.

 

Mark Steven Domingo, 26, a U.S. Army infantryman who recently converted to Islam, was taken into custody on Friday after undercover FBI operatives furnished him with what he thought were live bombs to be used in the attack, law enforcement officials said.

 

Authorities said Domingo, who had no prior criminal record, came to their attention because of a series of violent extremist messages he posted in online chat rooms, one of which called for "retribution" for the massacre of 50 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, by a gunman in March.

 

"Often we are asked what keeps us up at night. This is a case that keeps us up at night," Ryan Young, special agent in charge of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, told a news conference in Los Angeles.

 

Domingo, who had purchased several hundred long nails to serve as shrapnel in the homemade pressure-cooker bombs, had also suggested attacks on Jews, police officers, churches, a military facility, Southern California freeways and the Santa Monica Pier during internet conversations with the FBI operatives, Young said.

 

He was charged in a federal criminal complaint with providing material support to terrorists and was ordered held without bond during a brief initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Monday.

 

“This investigation successfully disrupted a very real threat posed by a trained combat soldier who repeatedly stated he wanted to cause the maximum number of casualties,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said in a statement.

 

According to the criminal complaint, an FBI operative established contact with Domingo in a private online chat room in March, leading to discussions in which Domingo expressed support for Islamic militants and the desire to seek revenge for attacks on Muslims.

 

'VIOLENT JIHAD'

In one of his earliest posts, he suggested that "America needs another Vegas event," an apparent reference to the 2017 mass shooting at a country music concert in Las Vegas where a lone gunman perched in a nearby hotel killed 58 people and wounded hundreds, the complaint alleged.

 

Domingo, who said he wanted to become a martyr, also made reference to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, according to the complaint. During one meeting in person with an FBI operative, he arrived carrying an AK 47-style assault rifle, telling the informant: "I just wanted to show you that I'm serious."

 

According to a law enforcement database, Domingo is the registered owner of three semi-automatic rifles. An FBI spokeswoman said received a less-than-honourable discharge from the Army.

 

Prosecutors say Domingo contemplated drive-by shootings and detonating a bomb at the Santa Monica pier before deciding to bomb a rally scheduled for Sunday, April 28, in the Los Angeles suburb of Long Beach that he believed was organised by white nationalists.

 

Domingo and two FBI informants visited the planned site of the rally to scout the best location to place explosives to cause the greatest casualties, authorities said, agreeing that they would leave the scene separately to throw off suspicion. He as arrested shortly after placing one of the mock bombs into the vehicle of an informant.

 

The white nationalist rally ended up not happening, although a number of counterdemonstrators assembled at the site, the Los Angeles City News Service said.

 

The announcement of Domingo's arrest came two days after a gunman opened fire in a San Diego-area synagogue, killing one woman and wounding three others, including the rabbi. John Earnest, 19, was arrested.

 

There was no indication the two incidents were connected.

 

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman; editing by Tom Brown, Lisa Shumaker and Sonya Hepinstall)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-30

[TopDeadSenter]

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

a U.S. Army infantryman who recently converted to Islam

 Can any of the experts here explain why recent converts to islam seem so compelled to carry out terror atrocities? Is it just an unfortunate co-incidence, or is there something in the islamic teachings that encourage it?

[Tug]

The guy is an idiot just like the kid that attacked the temple in San Diego same thing

[twocatsmac]

20 minutes ago, Tug said:

The guy is an idiot just like the kid that attacked the temple in San Diego same thing

Not just an idiot, a Muslim terrorist. Most idiots don’t plan mass murders unless they are Muslim idiots. 

[stevenl]

6 minutes ago, twocatsmac said:

Not just an idiot, a Muslim terrorist. Most idiots don’t plan mass murders unless they are Muslim idiots. 

Or white nationalists, or Christian extremists, or ...

[Tug]

58 minutes ago, twocatsmac said:

Not just an idiot, a Muslim terrorist. Most idiots don’t plan mass murders unless they are Muslim idiots. 

Untrue more are Muslim but it is the same anyone who attacks defenseless people is criminal 

[RickBradford]

2 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

 Can any of the experts here explain why recent converts to islam seem so compelled to carry out terror atrocities? Is it just an unfortunate co-incidence, or is there something in the islamic teachings that encourage it?

As a new recruit, he has to show what a good Muslim warrior he is. What better way to do that than blow up a lot of white people?

Edited April 30, 2019 by RickBradford

[Soi Pig]

What da bejeezus? Hey kid, you're supposed to fight the enemy when you go to war, not join them...

[riclag]

Good job rank and file FBI,who recruited him to Jihad 

Edited April 30, 2019 by riclag

[simple1]

18 minutes ago, RickBradford said:

As a new recruit, he has to show what a good Muslim warrior he is. What better way to do that than blow up a lot of white people?

Number of new members of the Islamic faith is roughly 100k p.a. in the US. A hell of a lot not demonstrating they're not good Muslim warriors eh?

 

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/

 

 

[Kasane]

Another sting operation by FBI purposely encouraging Americans to commit terrorism?

 

[RickBradford]

1 minute ago, simple1 said:

Number of new members of the Islamic faith is roughly 100k p.a. in the US. A hell of a lot not demonstrating they're not good Muslim warriors eh?

 

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/

 

 

I guess not.

 

The ISIS magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah exhort supporters of jihad to carry out terrorist attacks (comprehensively laid out in the article "The Ruling on the Belligerent Christians"), so it is no surprise to see a new convert to Islam signal his good adherence to jihad by trying to blow up white people.

[ratcatcher]

[simple1]

1 minute ago, RickBradford said:

I guess not.

 

The ISIS magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah exhort supporters of jihad to carry out terrorist attacks (comprehensively laid out in the article "The Ruling on the Belligerent Christians"), so it is no surprise to see a new convert to Islam signal his good adherence to jihad by trying to blow up white people.

I suggest to you those converting to Islam and declare allegiance to IS are a tiny minority. 

[Emdog]

4 hours ago, twocatsmac said:

Not just an idiot, a Muslim terrorist. Most idiots don’t plan mass murders unless they are Muslim idiots. 

FBI hate crime stats for 2017: religious hate crime, against Jews 58% (1.4% of US population), against Muslims 18%, 1.1% of population. Plenty of examples of hate crimes by white Christians. "Most idiots don’t plan mass murders unless they are Muslim idiots." is idiotic. Are you a Muslim?

[Krataiboy]

5 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

 Can any of the experts here explain why recent converts to islam seem so compelled to carry out terror atrocities? Is it just an unfortunate co-incidence, or is there something in the islamic teachings that encourage it?

It's all those virgins waiting with open arms for a martyr.

[Krataiboy]

called for "retribution" for the massacre of 50 people at mosques in Christchurch

 

So Sri Lanka wasn't enough?

[twocatsmac]

32 minutes ago, Emdog said:

FBI hate crime stats for 2017: religious hate crime, against Jews 58% (1.4% of US population), against Muslims 18%, 1.1% of population. Plenty of examples of hate crimes by white Christians. "Most idiots don’t plan mass murders unless they are Muslim idiots." is idiotic. Are you a Muslim?

Hate crime stats, nice use of stats. Care to show us your stats on innocent people killed by Muslim terrorists in America as to opposed name calling “stats” 

Be sure to add 9-11 into your “stats”

 

And no, I am not a member of the religion of peace.

Edited April 30, 2019 by twocatsmac

[UnkleGoooose]

I see in Pakistan the local savages are killing health workers for giving kids the polio vaccine. The Religion of Peace stone age imbeciles think it's a plot by the west to sterilize Muslims. It's not, but what a great idea.

[Ulic]

6 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

 Can any of the experts here explain why recent converts to islam seem so compelled to carry out terror atrocities? Is it just an unfortunate co-incidence, or is there something in the islamic teachings that encourage it?

It is the converts that you have the most to worry about. Always has been. 

[MickeyDelux]

  The title should read, (Another) Islamic Terrorist charged with plotting to bomb rally.  Clearly, the media has already been bought and paid for.

[simple1]

1 hour ago, UnkleGoooose said:

I see in Pakistan the local savages are killing health workers for giving kids the polio vaccine. The Religion of Peace stone age imbeciles think it's a plot by the west to sterilize Muslims. It's not, but what a great idea.

Horrific vengeance attacks against innocent medical workers. Do you know the origin of these murders by the Islamists in Pakistan?

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/health/cia-vaccine-ruse-in-pakistan-may-have-harmed-polio-fight.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=F62F24AF6FC4F1B8162763697600CECA&gwt=pay

Edited April 30, 2019 by simple1

[metisdead]

Inflammatory posts and replies have been removed. 

[Thakkar]

2 hours ago, Emdog said:

FBI hate crime stats for 2017: religious hate crime, against Jews 58% (1.4% of US population), against Muslims 18%, 1.1% of population. Plenty of examples of hate crimes by white Christians. "Most idiots don’t plan mass murders unless they are Muslim idiots." is idiotic. Are you a Muslim?

I reject pigeonholing. A person can be more than one kind of idiot.????

[White Christmas13]

8 hours ago, twocatsmac said:

Not just an idiot, a Muslim terrorist. Most idiots don’t plan mass murders unless they are Muslim idiots. 

wrong the guy who killed 53 people in New Zealand was not a Muslim

[bristolboy]

6 hours ago, RickBradford said:

I guess not.

 

The ISIS magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah exhort supporters of jihad to carry out terrorist attacks (comprehensively laid out in the article "The Ruling on the Belligerent Christians"), so it is no surprise to see a new convert to Islam signal his good adherence to jihad by trying to blow up white people.

I guess if you believe that Christians = White People, you might have a point. That latest atrocities committed expressly against Christians took place in Sri Lanka, The Philippines, and Egypt. Not a whole lot of white people were targeted.

[bristolboy]

It's good to know that the Trump administration takes domestic inspired terrorism seriously:

Department of Homeland Security admits that it "restructured" domestic terror team

 

Amid reports that it "disbanded" the unit that was focused on domestic terrorism, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is admitted Tuesday that it has "restructured" the team that once fed information about domestic terrorism and white supremacist groups to local police departments. 

DHS is now acknowledging changes in its intelligence gathering, as some former department officials tell CBS News that the unit at issue wasn't disbanded but "gutted" at the worst time – just as threats from domestic terrorists and white supremacist groups increased. 

Late last month, in response to a CBS News report on the issue, DHS would not address questions about whether the unit had been "gutted."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/department-of-homeland-security-admits-that-it-restructured-domestic-terror-team/

[twocatsmac]

9 minutes ago, White Christmas13 said:

wrong the guy who killed 53 people in New Zealand was not a Muslim

It appears you are wrong I said most.

[toenail]

Many of the social rejects are finding “companionship”, acceptance and indoctrination through the dark cyber paths on internet. 

Edited April 30, 2019 by toenail

[Bill Miller]

22 minutes ago, White Christmas13 said:

wrong the guy who killed 53 people in New Zealand was not a Muslim

The guy who gunned down all the people in Las Vegas also was not a Muslim.