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A trio of ISIS-sympathizing teens plotted to shoot up and firebomb a Chicago-area Shia mosque during “spring break,” according to federal court documents that were unsealed Friday.
The murderous plot was uncovered by the FBI in February, when they served search warrants on a 15-year-old in Chicago, a 17-year-old in Kentucky and 18-year-old Xavier Pelkey’s Waterville, Maine, apartment, according to the FBI declaration unsealed Friday.
Prosecutors allege Pelkey was communicating with the two teens over Instagram, plotting the attack on the Shia mosque.
The trio planned to meet in Chicago in late March during “spring break” and launch their killing spree, according to the document.
Pelkey, who was using the pseudonym “Abdullah,” told the teens that he would buy guns, ammunition and had built a homemade explosive device to “get more people,” court papers state.
They planned to, “enter the Shia mosque and separate the adults from the children, then murder the adults. If they had not encountered law enforcement at that point, they would continue on to another Shia mosque or Jewish synagogue and execute the same plan,” the FBI declaration says.
“They did not have a plan to escape but rather their plan ended with them being shot by law enforcement,” it goes on.
Federal investigators recovered a cache of weapons from the first teen and Pelkey and a number of ISIS flags at both their apartments.
Pelkey is charged with possession of an unregistered destructive device, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
An attorney for Pelkey did not immediately return a request for comment.
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