# FBI caught Ohioan planning terror attack for July 4

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-caught-ohioan-planning-terror-attack-for-july-4/817192>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 2, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-caught-ohioan-planning-terror-attack-for-july-4/817192 "2018-07-02T21:11:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-caught-ohioan-planning-terror-attack-for-july-4/817192/1 "2018-07-02T21:11:05Z")

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[Demetrius Pitts, aka Abdur Raheem Rahfeeq, charged in Cleveland bomb plot after FBI sting; there’s no indication the Ohio man could have carried off an attack himself.](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/demetrius-pitts-charged-cleveland-bomb-plot-after-fbi-sting-n888336)

Lone loon or part of something bigger?

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-caught-ohioan-planning-terror-attack-for-july-4/817192/2 "2018-07-02T21:18:45Z")

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He was certainly clever enough to compartmentalise. He didn’t want to know any of the other conspirators.

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**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-caught-ohioan-planning-terror-attack-for-july-4/817192/3 "2018-07-02T21:49:05Z")

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> [@Skywatcher](#):
>
> [Demetrius Pitts, aka Abdur Raheem Rahfeeq, charged in Cleveland bomb plot after FBI sting; there’s no indication the Ohio man could have carried off an attack himself.](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/demetrius-pitts-charged-cleveland-bomb-plot-after-fbi-sting-n888336)
> 
> Lone loon or part of something bigger?

I’m going to go with ‘loon’, but I’m also going to add ‘and more or less goaded in to it by an FBI agent.’

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**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-caught-ohioan-planning-terror-attack-for-july-4/817192/4 "2018-07-02T23:43:06Z")

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While I don’t have any great sympathy for Mr. Pitts, it seems more likely that he was acting alone.

**Sicks Ate** post reminds me of a joke I’ve heard over the years:

Q: How do you know who the undercover Fed in your group is?

A: He’s the guy that always wants to blow stuff up.

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**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\
**Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-caught-ohioan-planning-terror-attack-for-july-4/817192/5 "2018-07-02T23:53:26Z")

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> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> While I don’t have any great sympathy for Mr. Pitts, it seems more likely that he was acting alone.
> 
> **Sicks Ate** post reminds me of a joke I’ve heard over the years:
> 
> Q: How do you know who the undercover Fed in your group is?
> 
> A: He’s the guy that always wants to blow stuff up.

Who do you hang around with that this joke comes up over the years?

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**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fbi-caught-ohioan-planning-terror-attack-for-july-4/817192/6 "2018-07-03T00:03:49Z")

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> [@snfaulkner](#):
>
> Who do you hang around with that this joke comes up over the years?

The last couple times I read variations of it were on [AR15.com](https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/General_Discussion/5/). Then again, there are probably enough Feds posting there that there’s a decent chance the person telling the joke was a Fed himself.