Somali-born 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud attempted to detonate what he believed was a car bomb last night at a packed downtown Portland Christmas-tree-lighting ceremony, before he was arrested by authorities who had spent six months tracking him down. The alleged bomb sat in parked van — except it was a fake, planted by FBI agents as part of a sting operation. Mohamud had mailed bomb components to undercover agents he believed were co-operatives, telling them: “I want whoever is attending that event to leave either dead or injured.” He’d previously explained to them, of the bomb plot: “It’s in Oregon, and in Oregon, like, you know, nobody ever thinks about it.” [NYT, AP]
