Grand jury indicts Arizona terror suspect on weapons, aid to ISIS charges
Dec 30, 2016, 7:36 AM | Updated: 12:00 pm
(MCSO Photo)
PHOENIX — A grand jury has indicted a Phoenix man on charges of supporting terrorists and planning an ISIS-inspired attack, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office said Friday.
Derick Thompson, 30, had been arrested shortly before Christmas Day on suspicion of trying to buy a weapon online to help a criminal syndicate.
Thompson, who has been going by the name Abu Talib al-Amriki, has a felony conviction and by law cannot own or be in possession of a gun.
According to the indictment, Thompson began putting together a plan of attack in January 2015 and continued until Dec. 20, 2016.
During that time he went online to search for weapons, for “midnight mass” and to learn the difference between martyrdom and suicide. He had begun posting pro-ISIS messages during the summer of 2014.
Authorities said Thompson’s attempt to buy a semi-automatic weapon for a “lone-wolf attack” failed because someone else bought it before he could.
The FBI’s terrorism task force arrested Thompson near Osborn Road and 30th Street in Phoenix.