Feds: Man targeted deans for bombing

Court records say he wanted the attacks to be ‘as big as possible’

A North Miami Beach man has been jailed on accusations that he conspired to bomb the deans of two South Florida colleges that he had been expelled from, according to a federal complaint.

Salman Rashid, 23, was charged Monday in Miami federal court with solicitation to commit a crime of violence.

At first, Rashid wanted to target a religious building or a school. But by Nov. 8 or 9, he had switched his focus to the deans of Broward and Miami-Dade colleges, the complaint said.

And Rashid wanted the explosive devices used to carry out the attacks to be “as big as possible,” according to court records.

Rashid is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Bangladesh. He attended Miami Beach High School, records show. Rashid’s angry and inflammatory Facebook posts calling for revenge and the overthrow of the democratic system and the establishment of Islamic law caught the attention of federal agents in April 2018.

The postings “exhibited a growing hatred for America, democracy, non-Muslims and secular Muslims,” the complaint said.

The FBI monitored Rashid’s online activity for more than a year, including his exchanges with a confidential informant who Rashid believed was a member of ISIS willing to carry out a violent attack, documents show.

“Rashid provided information about the locations to place the devices and his assessment of security that might be present at the colleges,” federal prosecutors said.

If convicted as charged, Rashid faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

A pretrial detention hearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday.