New details about Christmas terror plot in San Francisco feds say they foiled
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A federal grand jury indicted a California man Thursday on charges of plotting to use homemade bombs during a Christmas Day attack on San Francisco's Pier 39. Everitt Aaron Jameson intended to use pipe bombs to funnel people into an area of the popular tourist destination in order to shoot them, the indictment alleges.
The indictment replaces a criminal complaint against Jameson, 26, a Modesto tow-truck driver, but keeps the original charge of attempting to aid a terrorist organization. He's now also charged with distributing information relating to destructive devices.
Jameson pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in a Fresno federal court Friday, according to KGPE reporter Connie Tran.
The FBI arrested Jameson Dec. 22 after he talked about his plans to undercover agents, including one he thought was associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The indictment and a previously released FBI affidavit say he described to agents how to build pipe bombs, described where he intended to assemble the bombs, asked for remote timers, and described how he intended to use the bombs "to funnel people into an area in order to shoot them."
He allegedly planned to travel to a remote campground in the mountains and build the explosives out of PVC pipe, gunpowder and nails, reports the Los Angeles Times. He planned to store the bombs in his Modesto home before using them in the Christmas Day attack, during which he also planned to shoot people with an assault rifle, the paper reports.
He allegedly told an agent he needed timers and remote detonators, and said he didn't need an escape plan because he was "ready to die," according to the Los Angeles Times.
Assistant federal defender Charles Lee said he hadn't been presented with the evidence and that his office would investigate the possibility of an entrapment defense.
Lee said the FBI found no bomb-making materials when they searched his home, and that two rifles and a handgun were legally owned by a relative and were locked in a gun case where Jameson couldn't get them.
He said the federal charges are built only on statements his client posted on his Facebook page. Lee added that his client told the FBI undercover employee: "I also don't think I can do this after all. I've reconsidered."
It appears that Jameson may have been tipped off to the investigation, CBS News justice correspondent Paula Reid reported. Two days prior to the raid, an FBI employee accidentally called Jameson's cellphone number from a Washington, D.C., area code, court papers say. Jameson called the number back but the employee let it go to his voicemail, which identified his name but not that he was a federal agent.
Jameson was discharged from the Marine Corps after little more than four months in 2009 for failing to disclose a history of asthma. The FBI affidavit said he asked for a fully automatic assault rifle and noted that he earned a sharpshooter qualification. That is a basic marksmanship qualification and Jameson was never trained as a sniper during the brief time he spent at Camp Pendleton, California, said Marine spokeswoman Yvonne Carlock.
Federal Magistrate Judge Erica Grosjean last week ordered him detained without bail in part because he has no substantial known financial resources. She also found that Jameson has a history relating to drug abuse and appears to have a mental condition that may affect whether he would show up for future hearings.
