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| 2004-08-06 | ||
| Law enforcement officials on Thursday arrested a man who they say was plotting to blow up the Everett M. Dirksen Federal Building with a truck bomb containing ammonium nitrate fertilizer, the same material used in the Oklahoma City bombing. Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States attorney here, said the man, Gale W. Nettles, 66, had acted alone and had no connection to international terrorism. He did not have fertilizer that could have resulted in an explosion, Mr. Fitzgerald said. "Never did it come to a point where the building or the people here were in danger," Mr. Fitzgerald said in a televised news conference. "He was not involved with any terrorist group, foreign or domestic." Still, Mr. Fitzgerald said, the threat was taken very seriously. "These are times of danger," he said. "We have to watch for people from overseas and we have to watch for people from our own country." Mr. Nettles, who Mr. Fitzgerald said was embittered at the federal courts after being convicted here of counterfeiting, told a fellow inmate in a Mississippi prison of his plot last fall. The inmate alerted law enforcement officials, leading to months of intense surveillance and a sting resulting in Mr. Nettles's arrest.
This week, the undercover agent Mr. Nettles had contacted when he left prison supplied him with 2,000 pounds of fertilizer. But Mr. Nettles could store only 500 pounds. On Thursday morning he sold the rest to the second undercover officer. Mr. Nettles told the second officer "he has a target in mind: the U.S. courthouse downtown," according to an F.B.I. affidavit. The Dirksen Building has federal courtrooms. Mr. Nettles was arrested after the sale. Mr. Fitzgerald said Mr. Nettles, who expressed knowledge of bomb making, was fooled into thinking that the fertilizer he possessed could be used for a bomb when in fact, he was given a "nondangerous" type. Mr. Nettles never had the materials the authorities said he needed to create the explosion he planned - one that would rock the building in the late morning, when he believed the judges would be around, officials said. If convicted, he could spend up to 20 years in prison. Thomas J. Kneir, special agent in charge of the Chicago office of the F.B.I., said, "Some of the biggest attacks on the United States have been domestic, and obviously Mr. Nettles is one of those guys who absolutely hates the U.S. government."
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| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #7 "Well, you said that you wanted fertilizer, you must be more specific next time you order." |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-08-06 12:35:20 PM |
| #6 "Well, you said that you wanted fertilizer, you must be more specific next time you order." |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-08-06 12:35:05 PM |
| #5 Oh, this is a hoot. I would bet you dollars for doughnuts they sold him a load of ammonium *sulfate*, which is about as explosive as mud. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2004-08-06 11:33:26 AM |
| #4 Mr. Fitzgerald said Mr. Nettles started counterfeiting again to finance his plan and sold some of his fake currency to an informant for the F.B.I. Yeah, I can see why he's pissed at the courts for putting him away for conterfeiting. An obvious frame up. Can my client plead "stupid", your honor? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-08-06 10:08:31 AM |
| #3 Mr Nettles will be roomed with his evidence for the remainder of his stupid existence. Flies be damned! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-08-06 1:06:06 AM |
| #2 "He did not have fertilizer that could have resulted in an explosion, Mr. Fitzgerald said." But what a crop of petunias he could've had! I don't want to pay for this zoomie's upkeep for the next 20 years. Make him eat the fertilizer. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-08-06 12:57:26 AM |
| #1 ...SAC Kneir also pointed out that "Mr. Nettles is also a complete idiot." Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-08-06 12:51:08 AM |