(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The FBI has arrested a homeless man who was supposedly plotting to bomb the New York Stock Exchange—another bureau sting operation involving multiple undercover agents and at least one informant.
According to the FBI’s criminal complaint, the defendant, Harun Abdul-Malik Yener, had been searching online for how to make explosives since 2017. His job also called the cops on him in July 2023 when he became violent, and he told officers he wanted to “hurt and kill people like the Parkland shooter did,” according to the complaint, which was first reported by Court Watch.
Despite his track record, the FBI claims Yener didn’t come on its radar until February of this year, after receiving a tip that he was storing bombmaking schematics in a Coral Springs, Florida storage unit. He may have been living in that unit, too, as the criminal complaint described him as “unhoused.”
The FBI just arrested a homeless man for supposedly plotting to bomb the NY Stock Exchange — another case involving numerous undercover FBI agents.
Another weird fact from this case: The defendant tried joining the Proud Boys and Boogaloo Boys, but they rejected him because he… pic.twitter.com/MZBhGejKPN— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) November 20, 2024
FBI agents interviewed Yener in March and searched his storage unit, allegedly finding “bombmaking sketches, numerous watches with timers, electronic circuit boards, and other electronics … that could be used for constructing explosive devices.” The complaint doesn’t mention finding chemical precursors to actually cause an explosion.
In his interview with the FBI, Yener claimed that ISIS recruited him online in 2015 on Facebook. As Headline USA has reported, such ISIS recruiting schemes are often infiltrated by law enforcement.
In June, Yener communicated with an FBI informant online, telling him he had most of the equipment needed to construct an explosive device and knows how to construct an explosive device. He also disclosed that he previously tried to join the right-wing Proud Boys and Boogaloo Boys, but was denied membership because he “expressed a desire to pursue martyrdom.”
After talking with the FBI informant for weeks, Yener met with an undercover FBI agent on Sept. 26. After another meeting on Oct. 3, Yener allegedly told the undercover agent he settled on the New York Stock Exchange as his target.
On Oct. 23, Yener met with three undercover FBI agents, where he allegedly presented his “plan” to bomb the NYSE the week before Thanksgiving.
A week later, the initial undercover drove him to Home Depot to “purchase wire and a light bulb.”
“YENER told UCE-1 he needed the wire to create the improvised explosive device and the light bulb to test its efficacy,” the FBI’s complaint said.
Yener had several more interactions with the FBI before he was arrested Wednesday.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
