The FBI is engaged in a broad campaign to thwart any Islamic State-inspired plans to carry out attacks in the United States.
FBI officials told
ABC News that several arrests are expected to be made before July Fourth, and that the FBI is engaged in hundreds of investigations into alleged Islamic State (ISIS) supporters across all 50 states.
One such arrest, which was part of that campaign, took place Saturday in New York City, where a
college student there, Munther Omar Saleh, was charged with "making efforts to prepare an explosive device for detonation," the FBI said.
Saleh, a resident of Queens, New York, was first brought to the attention of the FBI in March after a Port Authority police officer witnessed him crossing the George Washington Bridge with a lantern in hand.
He reportedly told a confidential informant that he was in New York "and trying to do an Op," the FBI said.
Law enforcement officials found pressure cooker bomb instructions along with pictures of New York City landmarks on his computer, which were described as "potential targets for a terrorist attack" in court documents.
Since two suspected ISIS supporters were killed in Garland, Texas, at the
Draw the Prophet cartoon contest held by Pamela Geller in early May, the FBI says that it has made at least five arrests of individuals who are alleged ISIS sympathizers.
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