A 22-year-old immigrant for Bangladesh, who lived in Queens with US permanent residency, was arrested as he attempted to acquire guns from undercover FBI agents. His plan to carry out an attack at the “Crossroads of the World” also reportedly included LASIK surgery, as he feared he could be mocked as a “Looney Tunes Terrorist” for his glasses.
Bangladeshi national Ashiqul Alam, who immigrated to the US and received permanent residency there, has been charged with planning an attack on one of New York's most recognisable spots, Times Square, which is visited by millions of people annually.
The plotter, who acted alone, according to court filings, was arrested in Brooklyn on 6 June as he attempted to buy two Glock 19 handguns for his planned massacre.
“There is more to this case than just talk and the desire to carry out a terrorist attack… [Alam] took the steps to follow through on his deadly impulse, purchasing weapons to kill New Yorkers, target an elected official and attack police officers”, New York's senior FBI official William Sweeney told the news agency AFP.
Although it has still not been revealed how the security services identified the would-be terrorist, NY Daily News reported earlier that the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, as well as NYPD officers, had discovered information about his queries into buying grenades.
According to the charges, he first met an undercover agent almost a year ago….
