Law enforcement released information Thursday night about a Phoenix man arrested Tuesday, described as an “avowed jihadist” who searched for locations of midnight masses.
The news surfaced in the wake of the call by ISIS to attack the West at Christmas oriented locations during the holidays. Security has been increased at these sites since the terrorist attack at a Christmas market in Berlin this week.
According to KPHO TV in Phoenix court documents say Derrick Thompson, who was reportedly inspired by ISIS, attempted to purchase a gun on backpage.com back in January 2015 with the intention of committing a “lone wolf” style of attack in Arizona.
Thompson could not legally buy or own a firearm as a result of a felony conviction and the seller ended up selling the Kahr CW9 pistol to another buyer, police said.
Following the FBI’s involvement in the case, it was found that Thompson allegedly posted support for ISIS online back in July 2014 and searched Google numerous times for weapons.
Additionally, back in October the FBI said he searched for “midnight mass” and istishhad (martyrdom) as opposed to suicide.
Thompson faces one felony count of assisting a criminal syndicate and one felony count of misconduct involving weapons.