From the first Morning Jolt of the week:
Relax, It’s Just Routine Explosive Material in a Bag!Relax, It’s Just Routine Explosive Material in a Bag!
You heard about that young man who had to have his foot amputated after an explosion in Central Park? Relax, it’s just routine explosive material in a bag!
Police said the explosive material was not a device and probably was not meant to be triggered by someone stepping on it. They said it appeared that someone may have hidden the material in the park. They said it appeared to be an “experiment” and may have been created by someone trying to produce a homemade firework.
Police said they do not believe terrorism is involved. A sweep of the park by sniffer dogs had not turned up additional explosive material. Police do not think Golden and his friends created the explosive material.
Our Kevin Williamson suspiciously eyes the quick insistence that it was not terrorism:
When an Independence Day visitor to New York City got his foot blown off by a bag of explosives left in Central Park, the first thing that the authorities did was to reassure us that this was not an act of terrorism.
The first version of the story, trumpeted on CNN and elsewhere, was risible: People try to make homemade fireworks around Independence Day, and that’s probably what this was. And, truly, who among us could fail to appreciate the rich tradition of lovable, ungovernable scamps growing up on Fifth Avenue and 61st Street mixing up explosive concoctions out in the cow barns behind their $15 million apartments? The same kids no doubt dreamt of running away to join the circus while their nannies shoved them off toward Dalton.
Other easily-overlooked news this morning, from Arizona:
An FBI task force on Friday arrested a Tucson man on terrorism related offenses involving a conspiracy targeting government buildings in two cities in Arizona, authorities said.
Mahin Kahn, 18, was arrested following an investigation by the FBI’s joint terrorism task force, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Phoenix field office said.
Khan faces two state counts of terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism, a spokesperson for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office said.
Take a look at how his former classmate describes him:
This classmate says a month into their friendship, things got weird.
“Anytime he would hear something about the Middle East and America’s involvement, he would become mad. He would always tell me how much he did not like America.”
Khan’s classmate says Khan even tried to buy a gun. But it wasn’t until he saw posts on social media that he decided to cut ties.
“He started to tag me on Facebook in all of these calls for Jihad posts and stuff for radicalized Islam.”
The former classmate says he only told the school and Facebook, never taking this information to the FBI, because he didn’t take Khan seriously.
Is there a lot of wacky “I hate America, I’m gonna become a jihadist,” humor out there?
Meanwhile, over in Indiana:
A former Brownsburg High School student was arrested Tuesday on federal terrorism charges after allegedly attempting to provide support to ISIS and travel overseas to join the terrorism organization.
FBI agents and Brownsburg police officers first showed up Brownsburg Pointe Apartments, located off of Whittington Drive, shortly after 2 p.m.
Officials said Akram Musleh, 18, attempted to board a bus from Indianapolis to New York, where they say he planned to fly to Morocco on his way to territory controlled by ISIS. Court documents say he then planned to join the group.
ISIS in Indianapolis? Something seems to be serious enough for the bureau to start warning people about potential threats:
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedly went to a home in Fishers, Indiana on Friday to inform a family of a possible terrorist threat.
Sources tell FOX59 the FBI informed the family they may be on a list of potential ISIS targets. Fishers police confirmed they were aware of the FBI visit.
An FBI spokesperson issued the following statement to FOX59:
“The FBI routinely notifies individuals and organizations of potential threat information. We perform these notifications so potential victims are aware of possible threats and take appropriate steps. The FBI will continue to work closely with federal, state, and local partners to keep the public informed of potential threats.”
In other news, today President Obama will be attending a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton.