The Federal Bureau of Investigations arrested a 29 year old Morrocan man named Amine El Khalifi in his attempt Friday become a Capitol Hill suicide bomber.
Officers arrested Mr. El Khalifi in Washington D.C. Friday in a parking garage near the U.S. Capitol building, where he planned to kill civilians.
The U.S. Capitol houses both chambers of Congress, and sits atop Capitol Hill, on the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington D.C.
The FBI had been investigating Mr. El Khalifi via their District of Columbia Field Office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for two months prior to arresting him Friday. When officers arrested him, they reportedly obtained explosive devices that they deemed to be inoperable, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
“This individual allegedly followed a twisted, radical ideology that is not representative of the Muslim community in the United States,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge McJunkin. “He became known to the JTTF because of his stated desire to carry out attacks in the U.S., specifically, the U.S. Capitol building. This arrest is the result of dedicated special agents, task force officers and intelligence analysts from the FBI and our partner law enforcement agencies that make up the JTTF.”
Mr. El Khalifi was reportedly an undocumented immigrant from Morroco living in Alexandria, VA for an unspecified period of time prior to being arrested Friday.
Undercover FBI agents posed as terrorists and met with Mr. El Khalifi in December, gave him access to explosive devices, learned of his specific plot to blow up the U.S. Capitol building, and then arrested him Friday.
“Amine El Khalifi sought to blow himself up in the U.S. Capitol Building,” said Neil MacBride, chief federal prosecutor from Northern Virginia involved in the investigation. “El Khalifi believed he was working with al-Qaeda and devised the plot, the targets and methods on his own.”
Mr. El Khalifi appeared in federal court in Alexandria, VA Friday afternoon for a preliminary hearing before a U.S. District Court judge. If convicted of the bomb plot, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
