The following is a list of unsuccessful terrorist plots in the United States post-9/11. After the initiation of the War on Terrorism following the attacks of September 11, 2001, several terrorist plots aimed at civilian and military targets have failed to succeed. Many[''how many?''] such terrorism plots were created by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, with agents providing plans, materials, and encouragement to the supposed "terrorists" — often mentally unstable individuals, small-time criminals, and other vulnerable targets — and then arresting them on terrorism charges.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
| Date | Target | Description | Location of arrest or attempt | Suspect(s) | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 22, 2001 | American Airlines Flight 63 | A man was put into custody after attempting to detonate a shoe bomb.[8] | Paris to Miami | Richard Reid | Serving a life sentence without parole[9] | |
| May 8, 2002 | Unknown | A man was arrested after returning from Pakistan for allegedly attempting to build a dirty bomb.[10] | Chicago, Illinois | José Padilla | Sentenced to 17 years in prison, but this changed to 21 years in 2014.[11] | |
| March 13, 2003 | Brooklyn Bridge | A man was arrested and accused of giving aid to al-Qaeda and attempting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge[12] | Columbus, Ohio | Iyman Faris | Sentenced to 20 years in prison[13] | |
| June 2003 | Unknown | Eleven members of the Virginia Jihad Network were arrested and accused of training for holy war around the globe.[14] | Northern Virginia | Ali al-Timimi, Ali Asad Chandia, et al. | All sentenced to 20 or less years in prison[15] | |
| November 28, 2003 | Shopping Mall in Columbus, Ohio. | A man was arrested for planning to detonate a bomb in an Ohio shopping centre in what is known as the 2002 Columbus, Ohio shopping mall bombing plot.[16] | Columbus, Ohio | Nuradin M. Abdi | Sentenced in 2007 to 10 years.[17] | |
| August 2004 | New York Stock Exchange, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the Citigroup Center | Security in the United States was put on high alert after a plot to destroy the New York Stock Exchange and other financial institutions in New Jersey and Washington surfaces.[18] | United Kingdom and New York City, New York | Dhiren Barot | Sentenced to life in prison[19] | |
| August 28, 2004 | 34th Street-Herald Square subway station | Two men were arrested after attempting to bomb the New York City Subway on the day before the 2004 Republican National Convention[20] | New York City, New York | Shahawar Matin Siraj and James Elshafay | Sentenced to 30 years in prison[21] | |
| August 2004 | Pakistani diplomat | Two men were arrested at an Albany mosque after attempting to gain possession of a shoulder-fired grenade launcher to assassinate a Pakistani diplomat.[22] | Albany, New York | Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain | Both sentenced to 15 years in prison[23] |
| Date | Target | Description | Location of arrest or attempt | Suspect(s) | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2005 | Los Angeles-area U.S. Armed Forces bases, synagogues and other places | Four men running an Islamic prison gang were arrested after allegedly attempting to destroy Los Angeles-area places.[24] | Los Angeles, California | Kevin James, et al. | James sentenced to 16 years in prison[25] | |
| December 2005 | Williams Natural Gas (Wyoming), Transcontinental Pipeline, Standard Oil refinery | A man was arrested on suspicion that he had plans to destroy several sites.[26] | Pennsylvania | Michael Curtis Reynolds | Sentenced to 30 years in prison[27] | |
| February 2006 | Troops in Iraq, Toledo, Ohio citizens | Three men were arrested for allegedly planning to build bombs for use by terrorists in Iraq.[28] | Toledo, Ohio | Mohammad Zaki Amawi, et al. | Amawi was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the others 13 and 8 years, respectively.[29] | |
| April 2006 | Washington D.C.-area buildings | Two men from Georgia were arrested after videotaping Washington-area buildings and sending the tapes to a London-based jihadist website.[30] | Toronto, Ontario | Syed Haris Ahmed and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee | Ahmed sentenced to 13 years in prison, Sadequee sentenced to 17.[31] | |
| June 2006 | Sears Tower and FBI offices | Seven men were arrested after allegedly plotting to bomb Sears Tower and FBI offices.[32] | Miami, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia | Narseal Batiste, et al. | Five of the men were convicted. Batiste was sentenced to 13 years in prison.[33] | |
| July 2006 | PATH tunnelsFinancial District | A man was arrested after allegedly attempting to bomb New York and New Jersey subway tunnels and flood the Financial District.[34] | New York, New York | Assem Hammoud | ||
| December 2006 | Cherryvale Mall | Derrick Shareef was charged after trying to trade stereo speakers for hand grenades and a handgun as part of a plan to terrorize shoppers at Cherryvale Mall in Rockford, Illinois during the holiday season.[35] | Rockford, Illinois | Derrick Shareef | ||
| May 7, 2007 | Fort Dix | Six men were arrested after attempting an attack on the Fort Dix military base.[36] | Fort Dix, New Jersey | Dritan Duka, et al. | Four of the men received life sentences, one man received five years in prison and the other received 33[37] | |
| June 3, 2007 | John F. Kennedy International Airport | Four men were arrested in New York after a plot is revealed to bomb the fuel line of JFK airport.[38] | New York City, New York | Abdul Kadir, et al. | Kadir sentenced to life imprisonment.[39] |
| Date | Target | Description | Location of arrest or attempt | Suspect(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 2009 | New York City synagogues/U.S. military aircraft | Four men were arrested in New York after a plot is revealed to blow up two synagogues and shoot down a U.S. military aircraft.[40] | New York City, New York | James Cromitie, et al. | |
| July 27, 2009 | Unspecified | Multiple men arrested for planning an attack.[41] | Near Raleigh, North Carolina | Daniel Patrick Boyd, et al. | |
| September 19, 2009 | New York City Subway | Zazi, a native of Afghanistan who lived in Colorado, was arrested and convicted of plotting to bomb the New York City Subway system. He was trained by al-Qaeda in Pakistan. 5 others were also indicted on related charges. "[42] | New York City, New York | Najibullah Zazi, et al. | |
| September 24, 2009 | Federal Building, Springfield, IL | A 29 year old was arrested on charges that he intended to bomb the Paul Findley Federal Building in Springfield, IL.[43] | Springfield, Illinois | Michael Finton | |
| September 24, 2009 | Fountain Place | A 19-year-old was arrested on charges that he intended to bomb a downtown Dallas skyscraper.[44] The suspect was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2010.[45] | Dallas, Texas | Hosam Maher Husein Smadi | |
| October 16, 2009 | Various overseas targets | Colleen LaRose, also known as JihadJane and Fatima LaRose, is an American citizen charged with terrorism-related crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder and providing material support to terrorists. Lars Vilks was a named target in response to drawings of Muhammad.[46] | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Colleen LaRose, et al. | |
| December 25, 2009 | Northwest Airlines Flight 253 | A 23-year-old man was arrested after Northwest Airlines passengers jumped him to avoid his detonating an explosive device above the city of Detroit.[47] The explosive had been concealed in his underwear. He was convicted of eight federal criminal counts, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted mass murder. On February 16, 2012, he was sentenced to 4 life terms plus 50 years without parole. | Detroit, Michigan | Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab | |
| May 1, 2010 | Times Square | A Pakistani American who attempted the May 1, 2010 Times Square car bombing. He was arrested after he had boarded Emirates Flight 202 to Dubai. On June 21, 2010, in Federal District Court in Manhattan he confessed to 10 counts arising from the bombing attempt.[48] He was sentenced to life imprisonment. | New York City, New York | Faisal Shahzad | |
| September 20, 2010 | Wrigley Field | A man was arrested for putting a backpack he thought was filled with explosives at the baseball stadium.[49] In 2013, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison.[50] | Chicago, Illinois | Sami Samir Hassoun | |
| October 27, 2010 | Arlington Cemetery station | A Pakistani-born Virginia man was arrested and accused of casing Washington-area subway stations in what he thought was an al-Qaeda plot to bomb and kill commuters.[51] | Arlington, Virginia | Farooque Ahmed | |
| November 26, 2010 | Pioneer Courthouse Square | A Somalian-American attempted to light what he thought was a bomb at the public square in what is known as the 2010 Portland car bomb plot.[52] | Portland, Oregon | Mohamed Osman Mohamud | |
| May 12, 2011 | A synagogue and the Empire State Building in New York City | In what is known as the 2011 Manhattan terrorism plot, two men were arrested after planning an attack in multiple locations in New York City.[53] In 2013, one of the men was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while the other one was sentenced to 5 years.[54] [55] | New York City | Ahmed Ferhani, Mohamed Mamadouh | |
| September 28, 2011 | The Pentagon and United States Capitol | Rezwan Ferdaus, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi descent born and raised in Massachusetts, was arrested on September 28, 2011, for allegedly plotting to attack The Pentagon and United States Capitol with remote-controlled model aircraft carrying explosives. He was also charged for assembling IED detonators to be used in al-Qaeda plots to attack U.S. soldiers abroad.[56] | Arlington, Virginia; Washington, D.C. | Rezwan Ferdaus | |
| January 7, 2012 | Tampa and various other targets | Sami Osmakac is a man who allegedly plotted an attack, to avenge what he felt were wrongs done to Muslims, in the area around Tampa, Florida. Osmakac, an Albanian from Kosovo and a naturalized US citizen, was arrested January 7, 2012, for the alleged attack plan, which involved bombing nightclubs, detonating a car bomb, using an assault rifle, wearing an explosive belt in a crowded area, and taking hostages.[57] | Tampa, Florida | Sami Osmakac | |
| February 17, 2012 | United States Capitol | A Moroccan man who was arrested by the FBI for allegedly plotting to carry out a suicide bombing on the United States Capitol. El Khalifi thought he was working with al-Qaeda operatives, but was in contact with undercover FBI agents. He was sentenced to prison for 30 years in September 2012.[58] | Washington, D.C. | Amine El Khalifi | |
| May 19, 2012 | 2012 Chicago summit | Three men were arrested after a raid an apartment, seized pipe bomb instructions, an improvised mortar made of PVC piping, a crossbow, knives, Shurikens, a map of Chicago and four fire bombs, authorities confirmed.[59] [60] On April 25, 2014, the three men were sentenced to eight to five years in prison, considerably reducing initial penalties of up to thirty years.[61] [62] [63] | Chicago | Brian Jacob Church, and Brent Betterly, and Jared Chase | |
| October 17, 2012 | Federal Reserve Bank of New York | A Bangladeshi man was charged with trying to blow up the Federal Reserve building in New York. While Nafis believed he had the blessing of al-Qaeda and was acting on behalf of the terrorist group, he has no known ties, according to federal officials.[64] In 2013, the individual was sentenced to 30 years in prison.[65] | New York City, New York | Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis |
| Date | Target | Description | Location of arrest or attempt | Suspect(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2013 | Times Square | After the Tsarnaev brothers successfully carried out the Boston Marathon bombing, they planned to use leftover explosives to terrorize Times Square in New York City, but after carjacking Dun Meng, a Chinese graduate student, the plot was foiled after he escaped and called the police leading them to the Tsarnaev's location. A shootout ensued resulting in the death of Tamerlan. Dzhokhar was captured later that day after a citywide manhunt was declared to pin down his exact location. | Watertown, Massachusetts | Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev | |
| January 2014 | Mosques, an Islamic school, the White House | Glendon Scott Crawford and Eric J. Feight of Galway, New York, were arrested in January 2014 for attempting to construct a remote control radiation-emitting device to be used to attack a number of targets. Crawford and Feight were to use the machine to attack Mosques, Islamic schools, and to kill then U.S. President Barack Obama. Feight received an 8-year federal prison sentence and was released in 2020. Crawford was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison and is scheduled for release in 2038.[66] [67] [68] | Galway, New York | Eric Feight, Glendon Scott Crawford | |
| January 16, 2015 | United States Capitol | A Ohio man inspired by ISIS planned to attack the government building by launching pipe bombs and then shoot anyone fleeing the carnage.[69] In 2016, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.[70] | Ohio | Christopher Cornell | |
| February 14, 2015 | Courthouse, bank, forest festival, first responders | A West Virginia man had stockpiled C-4, dynamite and other weapons (including a sniper rifle to target first responders) to allegedly attack a federal courthouse, a bank, and the Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins.[71] | Elkins, West Virginia | Jonathan Leo Schrader | |
| March 14, 2014 | Attempted theft of a stock car, banks and attack government buildings and kill law enforcement officers | A man from Katy, Texas was arrested,after a nearly eight-month operation by the FBI, Secret Service, Houston Police and Harris Sheriff's Office, investigated after creating a Facebook page called "American Insurgent Movement", with the aim of recruiting five of six persons for tried to theft of a stock car and banks, and start a ring of attacks against government buildings and law enforcements in the Greater Houston zone.[72] [73] [74] | Katy, Texas | Robert James Talbot Jr | |
| April 2015 | New York City | A plot to build a pressure cooker bomb in New York City[75] was arranged by Asia Siddiqui, a Pakistani American,[76] and Noelle Velentzas. Siddiqui was in contact with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, while Velentzas seemed to support the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The two had researched bomb-making and purchased bomb making materials but were arrested before they selected a target.[77] The women were arrested on April 2, 2015. According to the complaint, officers found "three propane gas tanks, soldering tools, pipes, a pressure cooker, fertilizer, flux, detailed handwritten notes on the recipes for bomb making, and extensive jihadist literature" at Siddiqui's apartment. Velentzas had information on creating bombs from propane tanks and a picture of Osama bin Laden. Velentzas also questioned why people would travel to Syria when there were ways of "pleasing Allah" in the United States. The two had been roommates until shortly before their arrest. Their plot was exposed by an undercover agent posing as a third conspirator.[78] [79] In 2020, one of the women was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while the other suspect was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2021.[80] [81] | New York City | Asia Siddiqui, Noelle Velentzas | |
| June 2015 | New York City | The men had sought to detonate a pressure cooker bomb in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[82] [83] | Queens, New York | Munther Omar Saleh, et al. | |
| September 11, 2015 | 9/11 Memorial event in Kansas City, Missouri | A Jewish American man, Joshua Ryne Goldberg, posing as an Australian ISIS supporter, attempted to get an FBI confidential informant to detonate a bomb at a Kansas City, Missouri September 11 attacks memorial event. Goldberg attempted to persuade the confidential informant to coat the shrapnel of the bomb in rat poison in order to maximize casualties.[84] [85] [86] [87] On December 20, 2017, Goldberg pleaded guilty to attempted malicious damage and destruction by an explosive of a building.[88] | Orange Park, Florida | Joshua Ryne Goldberg | |
| April, 2016 | Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center in Aventura, Florida | A man was arrested on May 2, 2016 for planning to bomb a Jewish center in Florida.[89] He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2017.[90] | Hollywood, Florida | James Gonzalo Medina | |
| September 17–19, 2016 | 2016 New York and New Jersey bombings | On the morning of September 17, a pipe bomb exploded in Seaside Park, New Jersey. Later that day, a homemade pressure cooker bomb went off in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. A second pressure cooker bomb was discovered four blocks away. Suspect Ahmad Khan Rahimi was not part of a terrorist group, but his actions were believed to have been influenced by the extremist Islamic ideology. | New York, New Jersey | Ahmad Khan Rahimi | |
| October 14, 2016 | Mosque and apartment complex in Garden City, Kansas. | Three individuals who called themselves "The Crusaders," were arrested after plotting to murder Somalian immigrants.[91] [92] All three men were sentenced to at least 25 years in prison in 2019.[93] [94] | Wichita, Kansas | Patrick Eugene Stein, Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright. | |
| December 4, 2016 | Comet Ping Pong in Washington, D.C. | A man from North Carolina who believed in the Pizzagate conspiracy theory opened fire inside a restaurant because he wanted to save children he believed were trapped in the building's basement by political elites.[95] [96] No one was injured or killed, and he was sentenced to 4 years in prison.[97] | Washington, D.C. | Edgar Maddison Welch | |
| December 27, 2016 | Jefferson, Iowa Law Enforcement Center Carroll, Iowa | A Jefferson, Iowa man was tracked by an undercover operative while planning a joint "suicide by cop" attack with his wife, Joey Goodwin against the Greene County Law Enforcement Center in Jefferson, Iowa. This facility housed both the County Sheriff's Department and the local Police. The two had faced various felony burglary-related charges and, according to the informant, were "not going to prison under any circumstances." Tyson Ruth of Jefferson, Iowa, had compiled a vast array of weapons including an illegal-in-Iowa automatic rifle, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition, explosives and had been propagating the growth of bacteria that cause anthrax and botulism. The couple had planned a biological attack on various civilian installations including public schools and the local hospital. At the time of initial arrest, some but not all of the weapons, ammunition, bacteria, explosives and two full Kevlar® body suits were confiscated as evidence. The informant was unsatisfied with the extremely light-handed charges for which the Carroll County Attorney, John Werden sought conviction, so he contacted Greene County Law Enforcement directly asking that Federal Agents be brought in to investigate. A secondary search warrant was executed by divisions of the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and the FBI/JTTF and the entirety of evidence was secured. Ruth was charged and then convicted on federal weapons charges. | Carroll, Iowa | Tyson Ruth, Joey Goodwin |
| Date | Target | Description | Location of arrest or attempt | Suspect(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 12, 2017 | BancFirst in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | A man tried to detonate a bomb near a bank in downtown Oklahoma City when the van actually contained fake explosives set up by law enforcement.[98] In 2020, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.[99] | Oklahoma City | Jerry Drake Varnell | |
| October 22, 2017 | Amtrak train and African-Americans | While a passenger train was traveling through Nebraska, a man trespassed into a forbidden section and activated the emergency brakes.[100] In 2018, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.[101] | Furnas County, Nebraska | Taylor Michael Wilson | |
| December 4, 2017 | Islamic Center of Northeast Florida in Jacksonville | A 69-year-old man was arrested for planning a shooting at a mosque.[102] He was sentenced to 5 years in 2018.[103] | Jacksonville, Florida | Bernardino (Bernandino) Gawala Bolatete | |
| December 20, 2017 | San Francisco, California Pier 39 | Former U.S. Marine from Modesto, California, arrested for plotting a Christmas terrorist attack at San Francisco's very popular Pier 39 on behalf of ISIS. He planned to strategically bomb the pier to funnel people into a crowd, then begin with a mass shooting. The FBI stopped his plan after attention was brought to his pro-ISIS Facebook posts. Fall 2017, he was caught communicating with undercover FBI agents posing as ISIS recruiters, saying he was "wholehearted committed to the cause" and could provide "U.S. military resource" along with money to ISIS.[104] | Modesto, California | Everitt Aaron Jameson | |
| July 2, 2018 | Multiple locations in Cleveland, Ohio | A man who harbored sympathetic views to Al-Qaeda was arrested due to his plans to set off explosives at an Independence Day celebration.[105] He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2020.[106] | Cleveland, Ohio | Demetrius Nathaniel Pitts (Abdur Raheem Rafeeq) | |
| December 10, 2018 | Jewish synagogue in Ohio | An ISIS supporter named Damon M. Joseph is arrested for attempting an attack on a synagogue. Joseph was inspired by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting perpetrator Robert Bowers and told the police that he admired him and wished to carry out an attack similar to Bowers.[107] In 2021, Joseph was sentenced to 20 years in prison.[108] | Toledo, Ohio | Damon M. Joseph | |
| December 10, 2018 | Toledo bar | Elizabeth Lecron and Vincent Armstrong were arrested for plotting an "upscale mass murder" at a bar in Toledo using explosives. Elizabeth Lecron had been a fan of Charleston church shooting assailant Dylann Roof having been in active correspondence with him and sending him a book about Belgian Waffen-SS Nazi leader Léon Degrelle. Lecron had already created a Tumblr page celebrating the church shooting in Charleston titled "charlestonchurchmiracle" as well as various other murderers. The two would be indicted on January 3, 2019.[109] [110] [111] In November, 2019, Lecron was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Armstrong was sentenced to 6 years the following month.[112] [113] | Toledo, Ohio | Elizabeth Lecron and Vincent Armstrong | |
| February 20, 2019 | Democratic, left-wing and socialist politicians, media personalities, and organizations | A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant from Silver Spring, Maryland, Christopher Paul Hasson, arrested for unlawful firearm possession and drug charges. Prosecutors say Hasson followed the manifesto of Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik. Federal agents recovered 15 firearms and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from Hasson's Silver Spring apartment, and they said he had been stockpiling weapons and ammunition since 2017. Hasson was a self-proclaimed white nationalist and neo-Nazi skinhead who was inspired by terrorist Anders Behring Breivik the 2011 Norway attacks perpetrator and supported turning the Pacific Northwest into an all-white homeland and sent a letter to Harold Covington of the Northwest Front, and had compiled an extensive 'hit list' targeting various Democratic and left-leaning politicians, lawmakers, media personalities, as well as journalists working for CNN and MSNBC and the organizations Democratic Socialists of America and Social Democrats, USA. According to email documents, Hasson planned "biological attacks followed by attack [sic] on food supply", and a "bombing/sniper campaign".[114] | Silver Spring, Maryland | Christopher Paul Hasson | |
| April 29, 2019 | White nationalist rally, Jews, Churches, Police officers and the Santa Monica Pier | A U.S. Army veteran with ties to ISIS was planning to bomb a white nationalist rally held by the United Patriot National Front (UPNF) in retribution for the Christchurch mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was also planning attacks on Jews, churches, police officers and the Santa Monica Pier.[115] In 2021, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.[116] | Long Beach, California and Los Angeles, California | Mark Domingo | |
| June 7, 2019 | Times Square, New York City | Authorities arrested Ashiqul Alam, who planned to attack Times Square in New York City, New York with grenades, guns and a suicide vest.[117] | New York City, New York | Ashiqul Alam | |
| June 20, 2019 | Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | An individual who came as a refugee from Syria in 2016 was arrested due to planning to bomb a church in support of the terrorist group ISIS.[118] [119] He was sentenced in 2022 to 17 years in prison.[120] | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Mustafa Alowemer | |
| August 9, 2019 | Synagogue and LGBT bar in Las Vegas, Nevada | An individual was charged with planning to bomb a synagogue and LGBT themed bar.[121] [122] In 2020, he was sentenced to 2 years in prison.[123] | Las Vegas, Nevada | Conor Climo | |
| November 1, 2019 | Temple Emanuel | A white supremacist was arrested in a plot to bomb a historical synagogue in a Colorado town.[124] [125] The suspect pled guilty to a federal hate crime in October of 2020.[126] [127] In 2021, he was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison.[128] | Pueblo, Colorado | Richard Holzer | |
| June 3, 2020 | BLM protests in Las Vegas, Nevada | Three men who were part of the Boogaloo movement were arrested.[129] Their plan was to use Molotov cocktails to instigate violence at ongoing protests following the murder of George Floyd.[130] [131] [132] On July 30, 2020, one of the men was charged with child sexual exploitation.[133] He was convicted of both the exploitation and terrorism charges in 2023, which amounted to life in prison plus 33 years.[134] [135] | Las Vegas, Nevada | Stephen Parshall, Andrew Lynam, William Loomis | |
| August 2020 | Power stations in America | In August 2020, three individuals, all from different locations: Columbus, Ohio, West Lafayette, Indiana, and Katy, Texas were investigated by the FBI.[136] The goal was to attack power grids around America in the hopes of inciting a race war and economic collapse.[137] [138] | Multiple locations across America | Johnathan Allen Frost, Christopher Brenner Cook, Jackson Matthew Sawall | |
| October 8, 2020 | Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan State Capitol, Michigan State Police | The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested 13 members of the Wolverine Watchmen militia, who plotted to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan.[139] The plot was foiled by FBI informants in-person and online who had been reporting since March 2020. The capitol building of Michigan and the Michigan State Police were also targeted by the conspirators for acts of violence. | Michigan | 13 Wolverine Watchmen militia members |
| Date | Target | Description | Location of arrest or attempt | Suspect(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 9, 2021 | Amazon's data center in Ashburn, Virginia | A man wanted to destroy the data storage place of the company in hopes of bringing parts of the internet down.[140] Later in 2021, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.[141] | Fort Worth, Texas | Seth Aaron Pendley | |
| May 30, 2021 | A Walmart in Texas | A man was arrested after making threats and planning a mass shooting.[142] [143] | Kerrville, Texas | Coleman Thomas Blevins | |
| July 21, 2021 | Thousands of Women | A 21-year-old was who was a self-identified "incel" was arrested for planning to massacre thousands of people in Ohio.[144] [145] In 2024, he was sentenced to 6 years in prison.[146] | Hillsboro, Ohio | Tres Genco | |
| September 13, 2022 | Democrats | A man walked into a local Dairy Queen with a rainbow clown wig on his head stating that he wanted to kill "all Democrats" and was arrested without harming anyone.[147] [148] | Delmont, Pennsylvania | Jan Stawovy | |
| December 2022-January 2023 | People affiliated with the Democratic Party of New Mexico | A failed candidate of the 2022 New Mexico House of Representatives election believed his loss was due to voter fraud, and ordered people on his behalf to shoot at politicians' homes.[149] Despite property damage, no one was harmed, but the bullets caused dust to land on the 10-year-old daughter of one of the targets.[150] | Albuquerque, New Mexico | Jose Louis Trujillo, Solomon Peña | |
| June 18, 2023 | Synagogue in East Lansing, Michigan. | A 19-year-old was charged after planning to attack a synagogue.[151] [152] He was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison in 2024.[153] | Pickford, Michigan | Seann Patrick Pietila | |
| October 5, 2023 | Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers | A man showed up to the State Legislature with a handgun demanding to see the governor, and was arrested, only to return later in the day with an assault rifle, in which he was arrested again, with nobody being harmed in both incidents.[154] [155] | Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin | Joshua Pleasnick | |
| January 2, 2024 | Colorado Supreme Court in Denver, Colorado | A man broke into the building that houses the highest-ranking judicial system in the state of Colorado and was arrested with no one being injured.[156] [157] | Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center | Brandon Olsen |