(Philadelphia Inquirer) A Philadelphia man who was charged as a teenager last year with supporting foreign terrorist organizations had conducted more than a dozen tests on homemade bombs near his family’s house in the city’s Wynnefield section, and had begun planning to travel to Syria in hopes of becoming a bomb maker there, authorities said [Wednesday].
Muhyyee-Ud-Din Abdul-Rahman, now 18, was close to being able to detonate bombs with a blast radius of several hundred yards, said First Assistant District Attorney Robert Listenbee. And as Abdul-Rahman’s knowledge of explosives increased — and as he took steps toward flying overseas, including by acquiring a passport — he also conducted internet searches that indicated at least some interest in striking targets closer to home, Listenbee said, including by researching local nuclear power plants, the Philly Pride parade, and the Army-Navy football game.
