Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Virginia, was taken into custody with an inoperable firearm and inert explosives, according to a counterterrorism official.
El Khalifi expressed interest in killing at least 30 people and considered targeting a building in nearby Alexandria and a restaurant, synagogue and a place where military personnel gather in Washington before he settled on the Capitol after canvassing that area a couple of times, the counterterrorism official said. During the investigation, the official said, El Khalifi went with undercover operatives to a quarry in the Washington area to detonate explosives.
El Khalifi came to the US when he was 16 years old and is unemployed and not believed to be associated with the Al-Qaeda terror organization. He had been under investigation for about a year and had overstayed his visitor visa for years, according to the counterterror official and a government official briefed on the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.
Police are close to arresting one of his associates on charges unrelated to the terror conspiracy, the counterterrorism official said. The associate was said also to be a Moroccan living here illegally. Police are investigating others El Khalifi associated with, but not because they believe the associates were part of a terror conspiracy, the official said.
Two people briefed on the matter told The Associated Press he was not arrested on the Capitol grounds, and the FBI has had him under surveillance around the clock for several weeks. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
