Terror Plot Foiled at Utah High School Due to Bomb Failure

COMMENTARY Terrorism

Terror Plot Foiled at Utah High School Due to Bomb Failure

Mar 13, 2018 1 min read

Commentary By

Paul Fredrick

Spring 2018 member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation

David Inserra

Former Policy Analyst for Homeland Security and Cyber Policy

The bomb contained in a student's backpack "had the potential to cause significant injury or death," according to local authorities. LightFieldStudios/Getty Images

Key Takeaways

It serves as an important reminder that though ISIS is largely defeated in Syria and Iraq, it still inspires people in other countries to engage in terrorism.

Police confirmed that while the device failed to explode, it “had the potential to cause significant injury or death.”

This was only the fourth time that a terror plot has been foiled by an explosive device failing to go off.

Last week, a teenage student in southern Utah brought an explosive device to school. Thankfully, it failed to explode and the student was arrested. The student was then tied to a recent ISIS-inspired act of vandalism a nearby school.

This plot was the 102nd Islamist plot or attack against the U.S. homeland since 9/11. It serves as an important reminder that though ISIS is largely defeated in Syria and Iraq, it still inspires people in other countries to engage in terrorism.

Authorities have yet to identify the would-be bomber, but the details surrounding the plot are clear enough to label this as an Islamist terror plot.

The terrorist left an explosive device within a backpack in a common area of the school. A student then noticed smoke coming from the backpack and informed teachers, prompting an evacuation. Police confirmed that while the device failed to explode, it “had the potential to cause significant injury or death.”

Police arrested the terrorist in class later that day and searched his home, where they uncovered bomb making materials and ISIS propaganda. Police then tied him to a vandalism case at another nearby school, where he had painted ISIS graffiti, put up an ISIS flag on the school flag pole, and cut up the U.S. flag.

The terrorist has been charged with the manufacture, possession, sale, and use or attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

This was only the fourth time that a terror plot has been foiled by an explosive device failing to go off. It is also the fourth time a school has been targeted by an Islamist terrorist. Other details on the terrorist and the plot will likely be forthcoming.

This plot should remind Americans and policymakers that ISIS remains a threat that must be snuffed out in Syria and uprooted around the world.

This piece originally appeared in The Daily Signal