MIDDLETOWN TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — FBI investigators conducted at least three controlled detonations at a Public Storage in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, late Monday while working the case of an alleged terror plot in New York City.
Federal investigators haven’t revealed yet what they found at the storage facility on South Flowers Mill Road in Middletown Township, or what they blew up and why.
Only Action News was there as investigators set off the detonations a few minutes apart.
The facility isn’t far from where the FBI conducted raids Sunday at the Bucks County homes of 18-year-old Emir Balat and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi.
New York City officials have confirmed that federal paperwork is now being filed in a terrorism case against two men from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Officials said the men admitted to being inspired by ISIS when they brought explosives while protesting against anti-Islam demonstrators outside of the New York City mayoral mansion Saturday.
Officials said the homemade bombs were wrapped in bolts and nails, but did not explode.
Feds search Bucks Co. storage facility after 2 charged in terror plot
Mehdi Essimidi, an attorney representing Balat, spoke on camera for the first time outside of court on Monday.
“They are not known to each other. They did not live together. They did not have family or school ties,” Essimidi said. “There is no reason to believe they knew each other prior to this incident and I don’t know how well they knew each other at the time of this incident.”
That conflicts with what federal prosecutors were presenting in court.
Prosecutors provided photos in court that they said show Balat with one of the improvised explosive devices in his hand outside of the mayor’s home.
And officials said another photo shows him allegedly receiving a device handed over Kayumi.
“This was not random violence. This was a planned attack motivated by extremist ideology and inspired by a violent foreign terrorist organization,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “As alleged, both defendants have admitted that they acted on Saturday because of ISIS.”
Action News is working to learn more about what led investigators to the storage facility.
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