The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claims to have thwarted their own car bomb Friday, November 26, 2010 at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon's Pioneer Courthouse Square.
A 19 year old man, Mr. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, was in contact with undercover FBI agents since June of 2010. FBI agents claim they were acting as an accomplice of a supposed Pakistani terrorist that Mr. Mohamud had been in contact with as early as 2008. Unlike the supposed Pakistani terrorist Mr. Mohamud was in contact with, the FBI actually supplied him with a bomb.
According to the FBI, their undercover agents had decided to meet with Mr. Mohamud in Portland in July 2010, where Mr. Mohamud expressed a desire to conduct "Jihad" against non-Muslims. The story fast-forwards to Friday, November 26, 2010, when Mr. Mohamud was arrested after trying to detonate an inert bomb supplied to him by the FBI, on the corner of Southwest Yamhill Street and Sixth Avenue -- in full view of the ceremony.
Perplexing is why the FBI, knowing Mr. Mohamud's criminal intent, and upon delivering the bomb to the willing would-be terrorist, would allow him to approach a large public venue and attempt to detonate the device in public view. While the US Attorney's Office maintains that "the public was never in danger," they apparently didn't read the news about a recent stampede in Cambodia that cost 450 panicked people their lives.