Baltimore-area bomb plot: Arrest made in plot to blow up Baltimore-area military recruiting center
A 21-year-old Baltimore man has been arrested for attempting to blow up a military recruitment center in Catonsville with a fake bomb supplied by federal agents.
Federal authorities say Antonio Martinez, also known as Muhammad Hussain, attempted to detonate what he believed to be a vehicle bomb this morning at the Armed Forces Career Center in the 5400 block of Baltimore National Pike.
Court records paint Martinez as obsessed with Jihad and intent on punishing the military. He praised Nidal Hassan, the U.S. Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, and discussed obtaining weapons and shooting up military installations, records show.
In November, he was observed on a public computer in Woodlawn viewing videos of Osama bin Laden and an Iraqi martyrdom. He discussed in public postings on his Facebook page how the “reign of oppression is about 2 cease.”
It was through the social networking site that he communicated at times with an FBI informant, saying he wanted to go to Pakistan or Afghanistan and join the ranks of the “mujahideen.”
He told the confidential source that if the military continued to kill Muslims, “they would need to expand their operation by killing U.S. Army personnel where they live,” records show. They discussed attacking military installations and the possibility of using gas or propane tanks.