En jihadist er pågrebet af FBI, mistænkt for at have planlagt et angreb i Cleveland på nationaldagen 4. juli.

Det føderale politi omtaler personen, som blev pågrebet i weekenden, som en sympatisør af al-Qaida.

Personen er sigtet for «forsøg på materiel støtte til en udenlandsk terroristorganisation», oplyser FBI-agent Vicki Anderson mandag. (NTB)

Politiet opfangede, at Demetrius Nathaniel Pitts var blevet radikaliseret for et år siden og indledte overvågning af ham.

The FBI Cleveland Field Office just held a press conference detailing the arrest of Demetrius Nathaniel Pitts aka Abdur Raheem Rafeeq on Sunday morning for planning a possible terror attack during Independence Day celebrations later this week. Among the sites Pitts scouted were Voinovich Park and the U.S. Coast Guard station.

According to the FBI, the investigation into Pitts began last year after a tip indicated that he was making extremist statements and expressing support for Al-Qaeda. The case was originally overseen by the FBI office in Cincinnati, where Pitts resided at the time, and then transferred when he moved to Cleveland this past May.

Pitts, a convicted violent felon, had expressed his intent to conduct U.S.-based terror attacks and his support for Al-Qaeda.

Da Pitts sidste uge begyndte at snakke om konkrete planer om et angreb så tidligt som 4. juli, slog politiet til.