Florida: Muslim involved in Garland Islamic State attack arrested for 9/11 plot

It is safe to say that “Joshua Ryne Goldberg” is a convert to Islam. How did he get the idea that his new religion called for mass murder of those who don’t believe in it? Why are the peaceful aspects of Islam that are so obvious to John Kerry and David Cameron and the U.S. Catholic bishops so hard for people like Joshua Ryne Goldberg to find, while the violent passages that Kerry and Cameron and the bishops are sure do not exist call out so insistently to young men like Goldberg?

“Florida Man Who Claimed to Inspire Garland Attack Arrested for 9/11 Memorial Bomb Plot,” by Garrett Pelican, WTLV, September 10, 2015 (thanks to Larry):

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 20-year-old Clay County man has been arrested on federal charges surrounding an alleged plot to bomb upcoming 9/11 memorial ceremonies in Kansas City, Mo., according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Joshua Ryne Goldberg, 20, of Orange Park, is charged with distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction, according to a criminal complaint.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Reached at home, Goldberg’s father told First Coast News he was “shocked” by the allegations against his son.

Between July and September, Goldberg had been in contact online with an individual, who — unbeknownst to Goldberg — was actually an informant. Goldberg had allegedly provided the individual with details on how to construct a bomb and instructed him to fashion a pressure cooker bomb and fill it with nails, metal and other shrapnel dipped in rat poison.

According to the complaint, Goldberg directed the individual to place the bomb at a memorial in Kansas City, Mo. that was commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Goldberg surfaced on the FBI’s radar after he claimed to have inspired the May 3 attack in Garland, Texas on the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest. That’s where two gunmen — later identified as Elton Simpson and Nadir Hamid Soofi — wearing body armor and carrying rifles opened fire on a police officer and security officer before they were shot and killed by police.

Ahead of that attack, Goldberg’s Twitter account — Australi Witness — posted tweets calling for an attack on the art show, posting a map of the Curtis Culwell Center where the show was staged and urging anyone nearby to attack “with your weapons, bombs and knives,” the complaint said.

The day of the attack, Twitter user @AusWitness 3 tweeted, “I’M BACK KUFFAR! DIE IN YOUR RAGE!” On the morning of the attack, Simpson’s account — Shariah is Light — retweeted that message.

In late July, the FBI told an informant to reach out to the social media user calling himself “Australi Witness” and “AusWitness,” who had posted messages on pro-Islamic State websites and claimed to be a Lebanese refugee living in Australia. In fact, it was Goldberg living in his parents’ home on Pine Road in Orange Park, according to the complaint.

In a conversation Aug. 17, Goldberg told the informant, “Hopefully there will be some jihad on the anniversary of 9/11.” Days later, when the source suggested he was willing to take part in an attack, Goldberg allegedly provided him with detailed plans to make explosives, including pipe bombs.

The instructions, according to the FBI, were “accurate” and would actually work.

On Aug. 20, Goldberg elaborated. “Have you decided what kind of attack you want to carry out on 9/11, akhi? I was thinking a bombing. … We could make pipe bombs and detonate them at a large public event… It needs to be big,” he’s quoted as saying in the indictment.

Afterward, Goldberg lobbied for his informant to fashion a bomb out of a pressure cooker, akin to the device used in the Boston Marathon bombing, the complaint said. He allegedly suggested his contact fill the device with shrapnel and poison to inflict maximum damage, saying his contact should use “shards of metal and nails. … Broken glass would probably work too. Just put as much sharp stuff as you can in there.”

He also picked out a location to stage the attack, a stair climbing event on Sept. 13 in Kansas City in which firefighters and first responders honor those who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, calling it “the perfect place,” according to the complaint. He selected the event because it would attract the largest number of people on 9/11

At some point in the discussion, Goldberg allegedly told his contact, “…Get FAR away from the bomb, brother. There’s going to be chaos when it goes off. Shrapnel, blood, and panicking Kuffar will be everywhere.”

“If you can, dip the screws and other shrapnel in rat poison before putting them in. That way, the kuffar who get hit by them will be more likely to die,” Goldberg told the informant.

Agents raided Goldberg’s home Wednesday. While speaking with investigators, he allegedly acknowledged using social media to call for attacks in Garland, Texas and providing an associate with instructions on how to produce a pressure cooker bomb….