The explosives in the van1,4 parked near the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square were fakes set up by the FBI during a sting operation and no one was hurt.1,2,4
Mohamud, who claims to have written articles for Jihad Recollections, an online journal advocating violent jihad against non-Muslims,3 had been in email contact with a suspected terrorist in Pakistan's Northwest frontier province.1,4
They discussed the possibility of him traveling to Pakistan to participated in violent jihad but it did not happen1,4 as he used the wrong email address to reach a contact for his travel.1
When an undercover agent posing as an affiliate of his Pakistani contact approached him, he expressed his desire to go 'operational' by setting off explosions and asked for assistance.1,4 He also picked the Christmas lighting ceremony as a target for those explosions1,4 and said that 'he had wanted to conduct a holy war against "infidels" since the age of 15'.3
According to the Oregon, the FBI operative questioned him about the target saying4
"You know there's going to be a lot of children there?" an FBI operative asked Mohamud. "You know there are gonna be a lot of children there?"4
Mohamud allegedly responded he was looking for a "huge mass that will ... be attacked in their own element with their families celebrating the holidays."4
Sources: 1. CNN, 2. Daily Mail (U.K.), 3. The Daily Telegraph (U.K.), 4. The Oregonian (Oregonlive.com)
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