Sami Osmakac faces terror charges for plotting attacks in Tampa

Federal prosecutors accused 25-year-old Sami Osmakac, a naturalized U.S. citizen, with plotting to attack nightclubs and a bridges in Tampa.  Osmakac is alleged to have made an eight-minute video in which he said Muslim blood was more valuable than the blood of those who are not Muslim and that he wanted payback for the wrongs suffered by Muslims according to the complaint.

An unidentified source tipped-off federal officials to Osmakac’s plans in September.  The complaint alleges Osmakac attempted to buy an AK-47 and explosives from an undercover FBI agent. 

According to the New York Times, Osmakac told the undercover agent “I want to do something terrifying. Like, one day, one night, something’s going to happen, then six hours later, something else.”

Hassan Shibly, a Tampa attorney and the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the Associated Press he had an uneasy feeling after meeting Osmakac last summer.

“It was very clear he was very disturbed very angry and very misguided about the Islamic faith,” Shibly said, adding that Osmakac did not know basic Islamic principles or Arabic.  It is unclear if he is a member of any mosque in the Tampa area.

Osmakac was ordered held without bail at a hearing in federal court Monday.  He faces life in prison if convicted on the charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.  His attorney declined to comment on the case.