Attempted NYC Attack Included Concert Venue

Federal authorities have reportedly disclosed that there were thwarted plots to attack New York City, including one that targeted a random concert.

Wikimedia user AngMoKio – New York City

The bombings and shootings were planned to be coordinated with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in 2016, according to the New York Times.

In a communication, El Rahnasawy, who bought bomb-making materials in Canada, including 40 pounds of hydrogen peroxide, introduced himself to an undercover agent with, “I’m one of the guys in the U.S. project,” saying he “conveyed his desire to carry out a terrorist attack in New York City,” according to one complaint. Rahnasawy added, “we will show them what they hadn’t seen in 2001.”

Among the target were concerts around the city.

“We could pick a concert in a closed area,” he said, according to the Times, adding he was looking “for a concert hall that’s far away from cops.”

“We just walk in with the guns in our hands,” he wrote, then, referencing Bataclan, “That’s how the Paris guys did it.”

Other targets were the subway (“kill all in the train”) and Times Square, where they would detonate “a really strong (car) bomb.”

Rahnasawy, a 19-year-old Canadian citizen, has been in custody since his arrest in May, according to authorities. Also arrested overseas were Russel Salic, a 37-year-old Filipino, and Talha Haroon, a 19-year-old American living in Pakistan.