Details emerged Thursday of 29 year old Michael Finton's attempt to detonate a truck bomb outside of the Paul Findley Federal Building in Springfield. Among Findley's target of the bombing were the federal courthouse and the offices of first-term Illinois congressman Aaron Schock.
Finton, also know as Talib Islam, was arrested Wednesday by federal officers after he attempted to utilize a cell phone to detonate an truck bomb outside the courthouse. The arrest of Finton, follows a 2-year investigation by the FBI, including undercover operations enacted when Finton reached out for assistance.
In the 25 page criminal complaint filed Thursday, authorities outlined 2 years of activities and planning pursued by the 29 year old who was converted to Islam while in prison. Included in the affidavit was the disclosure that Finton received funds from a source in Saudi Arabia, and after spending a month in the nation in 2008 expressed a desire pursued plans to launch a terrorist attack upon the United States.
After returning from Saudi Arabia, an FBI agent acting as a low-level Al-Quaeda operative was able to establish a relationship with Finton. According to the complaint, "Finton was on the verge of taking action, so it was decided to proactively provide him with an opportunity for action that we controlled, rather than merely hoping to be able to find out and stop him." The US Attorney's office and FBI further stated that federal employees were not at risk during the operation as the materials provided to Finton were not active.
According to the complaint, Finton contacted the undercover agent after arriving in Springfield shortly before noon on Wednesday. After meeting up, the agent provided Finton with a van supposedly containing the explosives and instructed Finton on activating the device. Finton then parked the van outside of the federal courthouse and after meeting up with the agent several blocks away attempted 2 times to activate the bomb through a cell phone. At that point, the FBI arrested the alleged bomber.
The criminal complaint further alleges that Congressman Schock's office, adjacent to the attempted detonation zone was a secondary target. In a statement released by Representative Schock on Thursday, he stated, "my office was notified today of the attempted terrorist attack on both the federal building and my congressional office in Springfield. I am incredibly grateful to the FBI for their fine work in preventing this terrorist attack". Schock's office declined to make further comments citing the ongoing investigation.
The attempted bombing of the federal courthouse follows a week in which the FBI made arrests in unrelated terror probes in New York and Texas. If convicted, Finton will face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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