A 26-year-old California man was arrested this week and charged Friday with attempting to provide material support for terrorism after he allegedly planned a Christmas suicide attack on San Francisco's Pier 39 in the name of the Islamic State, CBS News reports. Everitt Jameson of Modesto was reported for suspicious activity on Facebook after allegedly posting GIFs from October's fatal attack in New York City. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, undercover FBI agents started communicating with him via social media on Dec. 11. “Jameson has espoused radical jihadi beliefs, including authoring social media posts that are supportive of terrorism, communicating with people he believes share his jihadi views, and offering to provide services to such people," FBI agent Christopher McKinney writes in an affidavit.
Court documents filed Friday state Jameson, a tow truck driver, asked an FBI agent he believed to be an ISIS leader for an assault rifle, ammunition, and pipe bomb materials, the Los Angeles Times reports. Jameson allegedly said Pier 39, a popular tourist destination, was a good location for an attack and planned to use explosives to herd people toward where he could kill them. He earned a sharpshooter rifle qualification in both M16 and AK-47 rifles from the US Marine Corps before being discharged for not disclosing his asthma. The FBI searched Jameson's home in Modesto on Wednesday, finding guns, explosives, and a signed note taking credit for an attack. Part of the note read: "You've Allowed Donald J Trump to give away [Jerusalem] to the Jews." Documents state Jameson appeared to get cold feet about the attack after an FBI employee accidentally called him on Monday. (More terrorist attack stories.)