Man arrested for plotting to blow up Pentagon, U.S. Capitol

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Massachusetts man with a degree in physics was busted Wednesday, September 28, for plotting to blow up the Pentagon and the US Capitol with homemade drones, officials said.

Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, planned to fill two remote-controlled model airplanes with C-4 explosives and hand grenades and direct them into the iconic Washington buildings, said US Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

The feds said he purchased the model airplanes, one a replica of a Navy F-4 Phantom jet with a Playboy logo on its tail, using the name of former Yankee great Dave Winfield. Ferdaus was arrested Wednesday morning after he obtained 25-pounds of C-4 explosives, three grenades and six automatic AK-47 assault rifles from FBI agents posing as Al Qaeda operatives.

Ferdaus had been under surveillance by the FBI since March.

The Northeastern University physics grad, an American citizen, had vowed to commit violent "jihad" against the United States as far back as early 2010, according to a federal complaint.

In one of several secretly recorded phone conversations, he claimed he targeted the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol because he wanted to "severely disrupt ... the head and heart of the snake," according to the complaint.

If convicted, Ferdaus faces up to 15 years in prison, New York Daily News reported.