FBI: Calif. ex-con tried to bomb bank to start civil war

bank of americaUSA Today – by Michael Winter

The FBI arrested a California ex-convict early Friday as he allegedly tried to blow up a Bank of America branch in Oakland, hoping to start a civil war.

Matthew Aaron Llaneza, 28, of San Jose, was detained after he tried using a cellphone to detonate an explosives-packed SUV at a BofA branch near the Oakland Airport, the FBI said. Agents had created a dummy bomb, however.

Llaneza was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against property used in an activity that affects interstate or foreign commerce. He is being held without bail.

The FBI said that Llaneza had declared his support for the Taliban and that he wanted to engage in violent jihad and conduct a terrorist attack inside the United States. He discussed plans to take a ship to Pakistan after the bombing and then travel to Afghanistan to train fighters, the FBI stated in an affidavit.

In November 2011, Llaneza was released from a state prison after serving a one-year sentence for transportation of an assault weapon — an AK-47 — and possession of a high-capacity magazine.

According to the criminal complaint, Llaneza met Nov. 30 with a man he believed to be connected with the Taliban and the Afghan mujaheddin, but who actually was an undercover FBI agent.

At this initial meeting, Llaneza proposed conducting a car-bomb attack against a bank in the San Francisco Bay Area. He proposed structuring the attack to make it appear that the responsible party was an umbrella organization for a loose collection of anti-government militias and their sympathizers. Llaneza’s stated goal was to trigger a governmental crackdown, which he expected would trigger a right-wing counter-response against the government followed by, he hoped, civil war.

Llaneza originally targeted the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown San Francisco but rejected it because he figured there would be too much security, FBI Special Agent Christopher Monika wrote. In a Dec. 7 follow-up meeting with the undercover agent, he settled on the BofA branch on Hegenberger Road, “reasoning that the name of the bank and Oakland’s location as a center of protests made it an appropriate target,” the complaint stated.

“He stated he would dance with joy when the bomb exploded,” said Monika, who previously worked as a Pentagon counter-intelligence officer in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Jan. 26, Llaneza and the undercover agent met at a rented storage unit in Hayward, south of Oakland. They loaded the back of the SUV with 12 5-gallon buckets of chemicals the FBI bought to simulate an “explosive mixture.” Llaneza then bought two cellphones, and the FBI made the phony trigger mechanisms.

Llaneza drove the SUV to the bank early Friday, parked it under an overhang and walked a “safe distance,” where he met the undercover agent, the affidavit states. He was arrested after two attempts to trigger the explosion failed.

Llaneza is due back in federal court Wednesday for a bail hearing. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/08/fbi-bank-bomb-oakland-civil-war/1903121/

14 thoughts on “FBI: Calif. ex-con tried to bomb bank to start civil war

  1. Wow, it looks the place to start a civil war is California these days. First Dorner and now this fruit loop. Who’s up next? Anyone?

  2. Hey! I thought terrorist bombing in America was an exclusive FBI franchise effort. You know how the FBI hates plagiarism and copyright violations.

  3. Yet another example of governmental insanity. How much did they spend to recruit, coach, and equip this retard for his phony jihad? How many millions will be wasted warehousing him for the next 50-60 years?

    How many fake terror attempts has the FBI sponsored since 9/11- a dozen? Have they ever uncovered a single domestic terror attempt which they themselves did not have a hand in creating? What they’re doing used to be called ‘entrapment’, now it’s known as SOP. If these are the jokers watching our backs, we are doomed.

  4. This is literally about the 300th time we’ve heard the FBI plan, and execute a “terrorist attack” luring a patsy with an IQ of 85 with the promise of money and oreo cookies just to be able to “remind” the sheep that “Somebody” out there is waging a Jihad on you.

    In reality all this does is remind us that EVERY act of terrorism is planned/carried out by the government, just like Gulf of Tonkin, just like 911…

    Fear serves a purpose. Control.

  5. Real news about what’s really going on has become as hard to come by as honest politicians. MSM has been paying big $$ to gov’t agencies (federal, state, and local) to buy them as “actors” to stage theatrics or “shows” to call news. Densely populated and often liberal metro areas are the target audiences for these prime-time news “movies”. The “actors” and “circumstances” always follow the same meme, i.e., crazed whack job “criminals” as the main character, a public place as a “stage” for events, and big brother/law enforcement “heroes” to save the day. Elitists live in a fairy-tale world and they honestly believe in their own narcissistic minds that they can do whatever they wish. Just ignore them. Turn off the TV, put down those F’N smart phones, keep your eyes open, and pay attention to the REALITY around you!

  6. “Agents had created a dummy bomb, however.”
    That was very nice of them don’t you think? I suppose they had originally promised him a REAL one ….

  7. What really amazes me is hoW many times this same old tired plot works! “Here, buddy, here’s a bomb we prepared earlier, we even planted it for you in the best possible spot, all you need to do is push the button, here!”

    Lather, rinse , and repeat as required.

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