Almost a decade-and-a-half after the Sept. 11 attacks, the anniversary has receded in the minds of many.
Not
so for one man in Florida, authorities say. A criminal complaint filed
in federal court alleges that Joshua Ryne Goldberg, a 20-year-old living
with his parents in Jacksonville, posed as an Australian jihadist
and encouraged an attack in Kansas City on Friday — the 14th anniversary
of Sept. 11. He was charged with distribution of information relating
to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction.
“Hopefully there will be some jihad on the anniversary of 9/11,” Goldberg reportedly told an FBI informant in a direct message.
How
Goldberg allegedly came to be radicalized — and adopt the personality
of an extremist on the other side of the world — is not clear. But the
complaint includes quite disturbing,lengthy exchanges between Goldberg,
who authorities said went online under variations of the handle
“AusWitness,” and the informant, identified only as “CHS.”
The
FBI became interested in AusWitness after someone using that name
claimed responsibility for the attack at a “prophet Muhammad cartoon
contest” in Garland, Tex., in May on a Web site.
“You might know me for inspiring the attacks in Garland … where two