Feds: Man tried to explode bomb on busy Wrigleyville street

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Feds: Man tried to explode bomb on busy Wrigleyville street

September 20, 2010

Sun-Times Media Wire

A 22-year-old North Side man who wanted to bring political change to the city

was arrested early Sunday after placing a backpack which he thought contained

explosives into a trash can on a crowded street near Wrigley Field.

Sami Samir Hassoun, a Lebanese citizen and permanent U.S. resident, was arrested

just after midnight Sunday morning without incident on North Seminary Avenue

near the 3500 block of North Street by members of the FBI Joint Terrorism

Task Force, according to a release from the FBI.

The arrest followed an investigation that accelerated in June, according to the

release. The FBI said the public was never in danger as the explosive device was

provided to Hassoun by an undercover agent.

A federal criminal complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court alleges

Hassoun's motivation for planning the attack was a combination of greed and

political dissatisfaction.

In June, Hassoun, of the 4700 block of North Kedzie, began expressing to an

associate the desire to commit acts of violence in the city for monetary gain

and to cause political transformation, the complaint alleges. Unbeknownst to

him, his associate was secretly cooperating with the FBI.

Through the summer, Hassoun discussed a number of possible plots, including a

biological attack on the city, poisoning Lake Michigan, attacking police

officers, bombing the Willis Tower or assassinating Mayor Daley, the complaint

alleges.

Eventually, he selected the Wrigleyville area as his target, and planned to

detonate an explosive device on a weekend night to inflict maximum damage, the

complaint alleges.

While the cooperating witness told Hassoun repeatedly, and the suspect at times

agreed, not to kill anyone, he allegedly said he wanted to plan a " diversionary

incident, followed by a more substantial strike that would likely result in

casualties, " the complaint alleges.

Hassoun told the undercover agent he was not motivated by religious ideology,

but did suggest in a meeting on June 14 that terrorists motivated by extremist

views of Islam could be framed for his proposed actions, the release said.

When an undercover agent told Hassoun his motivation was to change the way the

United States treated " our people back home, " Hassoun, according to the

complaint, said, " Mine is a kind of a different concept than this. "

He saw attacking Chicago as a means of creating chaos to gain political control

of the city and its sources of revenue, the release said.

Hassoun was introduced in July to an undercover agent who said he had access to

explosives and the expertise necessary to construct an explosive device, the

release said. During this and subsequent meetings, Hassoun allegedly discussed

several possible plots and scenarios in which he could dramatically impact the

city and force the mayor to resign.

Hassoun " expressed his opinion that the mayor's policies had weakened Chicago's

security apparatus and that he wanted to do something to show it, " the release

said. When the source asked how he would carry out such an attack, Hassoun said,

according to the complaint, " You park the car and let it 'boom.' "

Hassoun was charged with one count each of attempted use of a weapon of mass

destruction and attempted use of an explosive device. He is scheduled to appear

Monday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge .

Hassoun has been held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center since his arrest

on Sunday, and if convicted, faces a mandatory minimum of five years to a

maximum of life in prison.