By Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A U.S. veteran of the war in Afghanistan who prosecutors say plotted to detonate a bomb at a Los Angeles-area rally, causing mass casualties, has been taken into custody following an FBI online sting operation, federal prosecutors said on Monday.
Mark Steven Domingo, 26, a U.S. Army infantryman who served time in Afghanistan and later converted to Islam, was taken into custody on Friday after being given what he thought was a live explosive device to use in the attack, federal prosecutors said in a written statement.
"This investigation successfully disrupted a very real threat posed by a trained combat soldier who repeatedly stated he wanted to cause the maximum number of casualties,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said in the statement.
Domingo was charged in a federal criminal complaint with providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists and was scheduled to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles later on Monday. It was not immediately clear if he had retained an attorney.
Prosecutors say that in online conversations with an undercover FBI source, Domingo expressed support for a violent jihad and expressed willingness to become a martyr.
Domingo told the undercover operative that he planned to detonate an improvised explosive device at a rally scheduled to take place this weekend in the Los Angeles suburb of Long Beach, and asked for help in obtaining a bomb.
In an FBI affidavit filed in the case, Domingo said he specifically purchased three-inch nails because they would be long enough to penetrate the human body and puncture internal organs.
He could face a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison if convicted of all of the charges.
The announcement comes two days after a gunman opened fire in a San Diego-area synagogue, killing one person and wounding three others. A suspect identified as John Earnest, 19, was taken into custody in the shooting.
There was no indication that the two incidents were connected.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Peter Cooney and Bill Berkrot)
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