An apparent homegrown Jihadist from Ashland, Mass. Details:
Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, is accused of also attempting to provide support and resources to al Qaeda so it could attack U.S. soldiers overseas.
Ferdaus is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Worcester today. The Department of Justice plans to ask for him to be held for a detention hearing on Monday. Ferdaus is being represented by federal defender Cathy Byrne.
The FBI has been investigating Ferdaus since early 2010. During the investigation, Ferdaus, a Northeastern University graduate with a physics degree, modified mobile phones so they could be used as switches for improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, the Justice Department said.
He gave these devices to undercover FBI agents. He asked later if any of them killed anyone, and the undercover agents said one device killed three soldiers and injured several others.
“That was exactly what I wanted,’’ Ferdaus said, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
In January, 2011, Ferdaus told the undercover agents of his plans to use small drone airplanes equipped with GPS and filled with plastic explosives to attack the Pentagon, authorities said. In April, he allegedly said he wanted to do the same thing to the U.S. Capitol.
In May and June, Ferdaus gave the undercover agents detailed attack plans, along with step-by-step instructions on how he would do it. The plan included using three remote controlled aircrafts and six people, the press release said.
This MySpace page lists one Rezwan Ferdaus as the drummer of a “freestyle” “Americana” punk band called The Silk Road, based in Massachusetts. Using my superior powers of induction, I find it plausible that this picture, also included on the page, is of Ferdaus:
One of the songs available for streaming is entitled “Gaza Dozer,” which could be a reference to Rachel Corrie, an American college student killed by an IDF bulldozer in the Gaza strip, who in death has become a cause celebre for opponents of Israel (Iran named a street after her). The lyrics of the song are unintelligible. The band is described as sounding like a “six-pack of pabst and a mechanical bull.”