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Justice Department officials announced on Thursday, they had thwarted a Rochester man’s plans to kill New Year’s Eve revelers in the name of ISIS at an upstate NY bar and restaurant.
“After evaluating the situation, we started evacuating the train stations and also asked partygoers to stay away from big crowds outside”, Kraus added.
Officials in the Turkish and Belgian capitals have already said they had disrupted plots targeting such New Year’s Eve celebrations, and a number of cities will have a heightened security presence. Despite the police statement, thousands of people were on the streets of Munich at midnight to welcome the New Year with fireworks.
A 25-year old man, who had pledged support to the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, has been arrested in the USA and charged with planning to carry out an attack against civilians at a restaurant nearby on New Year’s Eve.
Authorities began monitoring Lutchman in late December and connected him with three informants that Lutchman was led to believe would help him carry out the attack. The name of the business wasn’t released.
According to the FBI, Lutchman and an informant went to a Walmart store to buy knives, a machete, ski masks and plastic cable ties for the attack.
He mentioned wanting to target a bar or club at this meeting, saying he would sneak inside a bomb or perhaps kidnap some people, according to the criminal complaint.
Rochester police chief Michael Ciminelli and Mayor Lovely Warren said no additional threat is imminent, but they made the decision to cancel the fireworks so officers – about 30 of them – could be deployed elsewhere in the city as a precaution.
Lutchman’s grandmother told NBC News that he has suffered from psychological problems since childhood and stabbed himself in the stomach recently in a suicide attempt. Lutchman had no money, so the informant paid $40 for the items, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
Lutchman appeared in court Thursday to face a charge of attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.
Fazili says he does not know whether Lutchman visited the Islamic Center for religious or spiritual services, but he says, if anyone within the community were expressing thoughts about violence, the Center would address it.
He is scheduled to be back in court January 8.
The FBI said the confidential source has been paid for cooperation on another case, and has a felony and misdemeanor on his criminal record. This is the second ISIS-related arrest in Rochester in recent months.
