Man arrested in connection with planned attack on Sept. 11 memorial event
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Florida man was arrested Thursday for distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction in connection with a plot to bomb a Sept. 11 memorial event in Missouri.
This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), as part of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. Members of the Jacksonville JTTF include the FBI, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
“As our nation remembers the attacks on our nation 14 years ago, this arrest and investigation highlight the cooperation between local, state and federal law enforcement, ensuring the safety of our citizens,” said Marc J. Moore, field office director for the Miami Field Office of ERO.
According to the criminal complaint, Joshua Ryne Goldberg, 20, of Orange Park, was in contact, through online communications, with an individual who law enforcement knew to be a Confidential Human Source (CHS). Between the months of July and September 2015, Goldberg distributed information to the CHS on how to manufacture a bomb.
“We will never forget the attacks on our nation,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa. “HSI special agents remain vigilant in investigating all threats of terrorism, at home and abroad.”
He instructed the CHS to make a pressure cooker bomb and fill it with nails, metal and other items dipped in rat poison. Goldberg instructed the CHS to place the bomb at an upcoming memorial in Kansas City, Missouri that was commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
Updated: