New details revealed in suspected terror plot targeting Chicago area mosques and synagogues
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Xavier Pelkey, an 18-year-old from New England, planned to separate worshipers at a Chicago Shia mosque, then kill all the adults, according to a secret FBI search warrant obtained by the I-Team.
The 45 pages lay out an intricate plot we first reported last spring, when the Maine teenager was charged with possessing a bomb. Now, it appears the feds are ready to level far more serious charges against Pelkey.
WATCH: I-Team Insider: Chicago Mosques Plot
Pictures of swords, guns, and menacing looking subjects posed in front of the ISIS flag are posted in the search warrant.
Pictures shown in the document adorn chat room conversations alleged between Pelkey, 18, who lived with his family in the small Maine town of Waterville, and unnamed, uncharged teen co-defendants in Chicago and Kentucky.
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Initially, Pelkey was charged only with having explosives, even though authorities said he was going to come to Chicago and attack mosques and synagogues. At that point, the extent of the alleged plot wasn't revealed.
The federal search warrant we obtained reveals terrifying details of a violent planned attack: a "mass shooting at an identified Shia mosque in the Chicago area in late March. They planned to enter the mosque, separate the adults from the children, and then kill all the adults. If, at that point, law enforcement had not intervened, they planned to travel to another Shia mosque or possibly a Synagogue and to do the same thing. They would continue until they were shot and killed by law enforcement."
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"There's enough here in the search warrant to suggest a lot of premeditation, a lot of careful thought given to this plan," ABC7 legal analyst Gil Soffer told the I-Team. "A clear plan to gather in Chicago, clear understanding that there would be a destructive device. It looks to be a real plot."
Court documents show the government is looking at increased charges that could dramatically change the nature of the case.
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"It's now shaping up to be giving material support to a terrorist organization, probably conspiring with others to give support to a terrorist organization," Soffer said. "It carries a heavier maximum penalty. It implicates national security concerns. It's more than one person, it's a conspiracy, potentially, it's a much more serious charge."
The scheme to separate and kill Chicago religious worshipers was backed up by multiple guns, swords, knives, and bow and arrows seized from Pelkey's home, according to FBI records. Agents said the 18 year old was prepared to die a martyr.
Prosecutors and Pelkey's attorney did not respond to our messages on Thursday.
