Was Fed Reserve Bomber Wannabe Really a Threat?

What would he have done had FBI not helped him along?

The man seized for allegedly trying to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York wanted to "destroy America" and said al Qaeda inspired him. When the FBI got wind of his plans, they brought him down in a sting.

Federal authorities nabbed 21-year-old Quazi Mohammad Rezwanual Ahsan Nafis on Wednesday after he allegedly tried to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb at the bank. The device was actually inert, part of an elaborate undercover investigation by federal authorities and New York Police Department detectives.

It's unclear whether Nafis—who came to the United States on a student visa from Bangladesh—maintained al Qaeda ties, but authorities say he apparently claimed that the plot was his own, and that it was his sole motivation for the U.S. trip.