Florida man accused of supporting ISIS, plotting ‘backpack bombing’

Federal officials charged a 23-year-old Florida man Tuesday for plotting to blow up a “backpack bomb” and commit mass murder.

According to the Justice Department’s indictment, Harlem Suarez — who also went by the name Almlak Benitez and lived with his parents in Key West — filmed a video in support of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and attempted to buy two AK-47 assault rifles and a bomb to carry out his plot.

{mosads}Over the last three months, Suarez allegedly had multiple meetings and discussions about his plan with an undercover FBI officer and a confidential informant and repeatedly pledged support for the extremist group.

He was arrested Monday while stepping out of a vehicle after buying an inert bomb in an FBI sting.

According to the criminal complaint released Tuesday, government officials had been tracking Suarez since April, when the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office was alerted to a Facebook account registered to Almlak Benitez — which was traced back to Suarez — that appeared show support for ISIS.

In discussions with the undercover FBI officer and informant, he allegedly repeatedly discussed plans to acquire a bomb and guns. He originally discussed carrying out an attack around the July 4 holiday, the government said, though later pushed it back until after he could acquire a backpack bomb to bury beneath the sand on a beach in Key West.

He allegedly filmed a recruitment video for ISIS in a motel in May, while wearing a black mask and calling on his “brothers” to “create [a] Caliphate in the Middle East.”

“We will destroy America and divide it in two,” he allegedly said. “We will raise our black flag on top of your White House and any president on duty.”

“They will never destroy the Islamic State and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” he allegedly added, referencing the leader of ISIS.

The government claimed that he also discussed ways to construct a bomb and obtain grenades.

In May, the FBI claims that Suarez purchased two AK-47 assault rifles on the Internet and had them delivered to a local pawnshop. While the FBI claimed to have confirmed that Suarez purchased the guns online, he incorrectly filled out paperwork to pick them up at the pawnshop and was never able to retrieve the weapons.

He also bought two boxes of galvanized nails, a pre-paid cellphone and a backpack that he wanted to use to build the bomb, the government said.

Tuesday’s charges come amid heightened warnings about “lone wolf” actors who grow radicalized by following ISIS and similar groups through the Internet.

On Tuesday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that lone wolf extremists were a “more proximate threat” than al Qaeda.