Philadelphia teen hoped to make bombs for terror group and considered Pride attack, officials say
Law enforcement officials in Philadelphia provided an update to a case involving a teen boy who, officials claim, communicated with a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda and allegedly purchased materials online in an effort to obtain weapons of mass destruction.
Law enforcement officials in Philadelphia on Wednesday provided an update to a case involving a teen boy who, officials claim, communicated with a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda and allegedly purchased materials online in an effort to obtain weapons of mass destruction.
During an event on Wednesday morning, First Assistant District Attorney Robert Listenbee said Muhyyee-ud-din Abdul-Rahman, 18, of West Philadelphia, not only had bomb-making materials, that were found in the trash at his home, he had tested bombs in the woods behind his home and had likely considered an attack on Philly’s LGBTQ community.
Back in August of last year, Abdul-Rahman was arrested and charged in an ongoing terrorism investigation following an FBI raid at a home along Woodbine Avenue.
But, on Wednesday, Listenbee said, Abdul-Rahman had not only made bombs, but he had considered placing bombs in trashcans along the route of last year’s Philadelphia Pride March and intended to move to Syria in the hopes of becoming a bomb-maker for a terrorist group.
“The defendant, who had a scholarship to attend college as a wrestler, decided that he wanted to become a bomb-maker,” said Listenbee. “He wanted to leave America and go to Syria an join a terrorist group. He developed bombs in his home and tested those bombs twelve to twenty times in his back yard and in the woods nearby.”
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