COLUMBUS – A man and a woman from northwest Ohio were arrested on federal charges of planning terrorist attacks in the Toledo area.
Damon Joseph, a 21-year-old suburban Toledo man, was charged in federal court after planning an attack on a synagogue in the Toledo area, during which he hoped to shoot a rabbi, inflict a large number of casualties and engage in a shootout with law enforcement.
Elizabeth Lecron, 23, was arrested after she purchased black powder and screws to make a bomb as part of a terrorist attack on a bar.
According to court documents, Joseph, of Holland, was arrested Friday evening after he took possession of two AR-15 rifles from an undercover and was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
Joseph came to the attention of law enforcement earlier this year when he posted photographs of knives and firearms on his social media accounts, which led to multiple interactions between Joseph and undercover FBI agents, during which he stated he was a supporter of ISIS and expressed admiration for the man who carried out a mass shooting at a Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh.
During several meetings with an undercover agent, he described plans to inflict mass casualties and make sure no one escaped, also saying that his plan accounted for an escape and potential combat with law enforcement.
On Dec. 6, he said he wanted to kill a rabbi and wrote the name and address of the synagogue where his attack was planned.
Joseph and the undercover agent met again on Dec. 7 where Joseph was arrested after he took possession of a black duffel bag carrying two AR-15 assault rifles.
Lecron, of Toledo, was charged with one count of transportation of explosives and explosive material for the purposes of harming others and property.
Authorities say she claimed that she and an associate had devised a plan to commit an “upscale mass murder” at a Toledo bar.
Lecron had frequently posted photographs and comments on social media glorifying mass murderers, including the Columbine shooters and Dylann Roof, who murdered six people in a predominantly black church in Charleston, S.C. She also began corresponding with Roof and attempted to send him Nazi literature.
After discussing with an undercover agent how to build a pipe bomb, Lecron bought two pounds of black gunpowder — Hodgson Triple Seven Muzzleloading Propellant – at a sporting goods store, then bought 665 screws of various sizes, some as large as three inches, at a different store in Perrysburg.