Man, 25, charged with trying to plan terrorist attack

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri native who said he wanted to take part in a terrorist attack that would cause many deaths and injuries is charged with helping plan a Presidents Day attack on buses, trains and a train station in Kansas City, federal officials said Tuesday. President’s Day was Monday. Robert Lorenzo Hester Jr., a Missouri-born U.S. citizen, was charged in federal court in Kansas City with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The 25-year-old Columbia man was arrested Friday when he arrived at a meeting with an undercover FBI agent he thought was an Islamic State sympathizer. The arrest was made public Tuesday after Hester made his first court appearance. A judge ordered him to remain in custody.

A criminal complaint said federal officials began investigating Hester in August 2016 after receiving tips about social media posts in which he said he had converted to Islam and expressed hatred for the United States and a tendency toward violence. Undercover FBI agents contacted Hester first online and then in several face-to-face meetings to discuss whether he wanted to participate in a terrorist attack.

During those contacts, agents told Hester the supposed terrorist organization was planning on “killing a lot of people” in an attack “10 times more” severe than the Boston Marathon attack, according to the complaint. Hester approved of the plans and rejected the undercover agent’s offer to walk away if he didn’t want to participate, the complaint said.