Modesto Man Plotted Christmas Day Terror Attack on San Francisco’s Pier 39: FBI Affidavit
December 23, 2017 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
San Francisco rises behind Pier 39 in a file image. (Credit: iStock / Getty Images)
A Modesto man accused of being an ISIS sympathizer has been arrested after allegedly plotting a terror attack targeting San Francisco’s Pier 39 – a top tourist destination – on Christmas Day.
The allegations are made in an 11-page affidavit filed in federal court in Fresno on Friday and obtained by the New York Times. CNN confirmed the authenticity of the document.
After an FBI investigation, Everitt Aaron Jameson, a 26-year-old former U.S. Marine, was arrested and charged Friday with attempt to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. It’s not immediately clear when he will appear in court.
A spokeswoman for the FBI’s San Francisco office said she couldn’t comment on the case specifically.
“There is no specific or credible threat to the Bay Area. I can’t provide any other comment at this time,” FBI spokeswoman Katherine Zackel said.
According to court documents, FBI has arrested Everitt Aaron Jameson, 26, on a terrorism charge. He’s accused of plotting an attack in San Fran. In letter FBI seized, he said “Long live Isil” and references Trump. https://t.co/A9bgQTjQQl 1/2
— Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) December 22, 2017
Jameson allegedly told an FBI employee he wanted to combine elements of the Oct. 31 terror attack that left eight people dead after a truck plowed into a Lower Manhattan bike path with the 2015 terrorist shootings at San Bernardino’s Inland Regional Center.
The investigation began when Jameson was in September reported to the FBI by a confidential source as having “liked” pro-ISIS posts on Facebook, including one that depicted a Santa Claus in New York, holding a box of dynamite. He allegedly espoused “radical jihadi beliefs … supportive of terrorism” on social media.
The source began communicating with Jameson, according to the affidavit from FBI counterterrorism agent Christopher McKinney. In one exchange, Jameson sought to associate himself with the cause of accused New York City truck driver Sayfullo Saipov, McKinney wrote.
Shortly after Jameson applied to be a tow truck driver through the Modest Police Department, an undercover FBI employee began communicating with him.
On Dec. 16, Jameson met with another undercover FBI employee, allegedly telling that person “he was willing to do anything for ‘the cause,’” the affidavit states. The FBI employee told Jameson that he was working for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Jameson was pleased, according to the affidavit.
Coit tower and the Transamerica Pyramid are seen from Pier 39 at San Francisco’s Fisherman Wharf on Oct. 18, 2017. (Credit: DANIEL SLIM/AFP/Getty Images)
Jameson told the FBI employee he wanted to combine the New York truck attack tactics with the San Bernardino firearms killings, saying he was trained in the use of M-16 and AK-47 rifles.
He wanted to target Pier 39 on Christmas because he knew it was a heavily crowded area, and he was familiar with it. He hoped to use explosives to “funnel” people to an area where he could kill them.
Then, on Monday, an FBI employee mistakenly called Jameson from a Washington, D.C., phone number. Later that night, Jameson told the FBI contact that he had “reconsidered.”
“I also don’t think I can do this after all,” Jameson told the FBI employee.
But on Wednesday, a search warrant was served on Jameson’s Modesto home. It turns up a letter signed Dec. 16, stating in part:
You have brought this upon yourselves. … You’ve allowed Donald J Trump to give away Al Quds to the Jews. … We have penetrated and infiltrated your disgusting country.
Jameson had also left a will signed a month earlier, as well as multiple firearms and ammunition.
Jameson, who was at the home during the search, told FBI agents he was supportive of ISIS and would be happy if a terror attack was carried out, detailing aspect of his plan, according to the affidavit.
Jameson was a U.S. Marine trained as a sharpshooter but discharged for fraudulent enlistment because he failed to disclose his asthma, the affidavit states.
