The suspect, identified as 48-year-old Demetrius Nathaniel Pitts of Maple Heights Ohio, was arrested in Cleveland over the weekend, the FBI said. The plot involved detonating a bomb on Independence Day.
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FBI charging documents reveal Pitts discussed possibly traveling to San Francisco to "conduct additional targeting and reconnaissance."
VIDEO: FBI discusses arrest in connection to terror attack planned for Fourth of July in Cleveland
FBI announces arrest in terror plot
During a press conference Monday, FBI officials said the "suspect expressed interest in chopping off heads and hands and disposing of bodies."
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He allegedly told an undercover agent that he wanted to blow up a Fourth of July parade in downtown Cleveland.
"And I'm gonna be downtown when the - when the thing go off. I'm gonna be somewhere cuz I wanna see it go off," Pitts told the agent.
Authorities said he actively conducted surveillance in downtown Cleveland, looked for a parking spot for a van packed with explosives and also expressed a desire to give remote control cars packed with explosives and shrapnel to children of military personnel.
Pitts was arrested for attempted material support of a foreign terrorist organization, specifically al-Qaeda. The investigation began in 2017 after the FBI received tips alleging Pitts had been making disturbing comments online.
Pitts, a U.S. citizen, is expected to face a judge sometime on Monday. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.