NBC.com is reporting that a man identified as “an older white man who became radicalized after reading extremist Islamic material on the web” was picked up in an apparent sting operation that has thwarted a major terrorist attack in the heartland of America.
Going a step further, The Wichita Eagle had positively identified also on Dec. 13, 2013, the alleged perpetrator as 58-year-old Terry Lee Loewen of Wichita as the man local, state and Federal law enforcement agencies have in custody.
Targeting the Wichita, Kansas airport, the arrested would-be killer conspired to set off a car bomb at Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport for maximum casualties as well as maximum media exposure.
U.S. Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom said the man had been under surveillance since earlier this year and had been given inert (inoperable) explosives by law enforcement authorities during the course of the investigation.
Grissom also stated Loewen faces the following federal charges:
- The use of a weapon of mass destruction.
- Attempting to damage by means of an explosive.
- Providing material support and resources to foreign terrorists, a Yeman-based group known as AQAP (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.)
