No charges for suspect in Bridgeview mosque terror threat who turned himself in

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (WLS) -- A man suspected in an online terror threat against a suburban mosque faces no charges after he turned himself in to the FBI, police said.

The man, who did not want to share his name, came to the police station of his own free will. Investigators also spoke to a person who commented on the post.

"The threat was not real, I was never going to do that, it was all fake," the man said while leaving the police station.

Bridgeview Police Chief Walter Klimek said both individuals were released pending further investigation.

"On Monday, a Bridgeview detective will go to the Grand Jury to obtain a subpoena for six months of Facebook records. From there, a determination will be made if there are any elements of crime in regards to this incident," Klimek said in a written statement.

There is always security at the Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview for busy Friday services, but after the threat, there are more precautions.

"The main goal is just security and safety right now, we want to make sure that they don't have any worries coming here to pray today, and our goal is to make them safe and feel secure," said Chief Walter Klimek, Bridgeview Police Department.

On Monday a man posted hateful comments and threats to the mosque on social media. The comments were pulled down but brought to the attention of the mosque, Bridgeview police and the FBI.

"He did make threats to the mosque itself, the building itself, he definitely has issues with the community, that raised a lot of red flags for us, that's why we called the FBI to get involved and try to assist us," Klimek said.

At services Friday, some had heard about the online threat but were not deterred.

"I had my family telling me, 'Hey, don't go today because they had an idea I was going to be praying today, and it was just sad that I had to actually think twice before coming here," said Rana Mamo.

"I heard about the threats but they don't concern me or scare me, if anything - if it's my time to go, it's my time to go, no matter where I'm standing or where I'm at, no threat is going to stop me from practicing my religion," said Shaheem Samra.

"We are praying for the safety of everyone, we are even praying for that person, we wish that person would come and visit us and see who we are," said Oussama Jammal, vice president of the Mosque Foundation.