Man charged with plot to bomb Ill. courthouse

CHICAGO — A 29-year-old man who idolized American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh has been arrested after attempting to detonate what he thought was a bomb inside a van outside a federal courthouse in the Illinois capital of Springfield, officials said Thursday.Michael C. Finton, also known as Talib Islam, was arrested Wednesday and charged in a criminal complaint with one count of attempting to murder federal officers or employees and trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction. Federal officials said the case has no connections with the major terrorism investigation under way in Colorado and New York."This alleged plot drives home the stark reality that we must avoid complacency and remain ever vigilant to the threats that violent extremists may pose to the public safety," Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey B. Lang said.Finton appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Byron G. Cudmore in Springfield and said he was an unmarried, part-time cook at a fish and chicken restaurant in the central Illinois city of Decatur. He was ordered held in jail pending action by a grand jury.
A message was left at the office of Finton's defense attorney, Robert Scherschlight, a federal defender.An FBI affidavit said that in the months leading up to the arrest, Finton had been closely monitored by agents including a special officer ..more.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jCITROrzT6aUhUyO5N3iOgxVjz9QD9ATU50O0o

2 men accused in unrelated plots to detonate bombs outside Ill. courthouse, Texas office tower,, more.. http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/apArticle/id/D9AU2JF04/