December 10, 2018 Law enforcement officials arrested an Ohio woman on Monday for plotting a mass attack on a local bar.
According to the FBI, Elizabeth Lecron, 23, was in possession of multiple firearms and bomb making materials. Local police received a tip in June and contacted the FBI Join Terrorism Task Force. Federal investigators say Lecron bought elements for a pipe bomb on December 8, including two pounds of gunpowder and over 600 screws likely to be used as shrapnel. The FBI said they do not believe at any point the public was in danger.
Lecron used social media as a platform to glorify the Columbine massacre, the Charleston church shooting, and other mass shootings. Lecron expressed admiration for mass murderers, even calling the two teenagers who killed 13 people at Columbine High School in 1999 “god-like.” FBI in Cleveland Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Jeff Fortunato told reporters at a press conference that Lecron was recently in contact with Dylann Roof in federal prison.
Monday’s terrorism related arrest in Toledo is the second in recent days. During Monday’s press conference, authorities announced an arrest in another terror plot. On Friday, Damon Joseph, a 21-year-old resident of Holland, Ohio was arrested and charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS. According to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo, Joseph purchased two AR-15 rifles from an undercover agent in order to carry out attacks on two synagogues in Toledo.
In November, 2014, evidence retrieved from a laptop belonging to ISIS revealed the terrorist group interest in obtaining chemical, biological, and radio-logical weapons. The contents of the laptop copied by Foreign Policy magazine revealed ISIS considered attacks on “soft targets” such as stadiums, nightclubs restaurants and shopping malls.
Terrorist organizations routinely distribute documents such as training manuals or handbooks to members and supporters which include a mission statement and organizational goals. The al-Qaeda handbook contains the group’s ideology and lists goals and a number of suggestions for carrying out Jihad. The al Qaeda manual states in part, the organizations mission statement:
“to blast and destroy places of amusement and immorality”, or “vital economic centers” where large crowds gather, using explosives devices, biological or chemical weapons and suicide bombers.”
In September, 2012, Adel Daoud, 18, was arrested in Chicago and charged with attempting to employ a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to damage and destroy a building with an explosive. FBI agents testified that Daoud , a Muslim-American claimed he wanted to kill hundreds of people. Undercover FBI agents provided Daoud with a phony car bomb to carry out an attack on Chicago Loop bar and watched him attempt to detonate it. Family members argued that Daoud did not have the means or knowledge to construct the bomb. Daoud was found incompetent to stand trial until March, 2018. Last month, Adel Daoud entered an Alford plea in U.S. District Court, telling Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman he maintained his innocence but that he simultaneously acknowledged prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him had he gone to trial.