On October 26, deputies arrested a 15-year-old Buchholz High School student in Gainesville, Florida. Investigators reported ISIS-related conversations on his phone and two jars of suspected explosive-making chemicals in his bedroom. A bomb squad came for the jars. His mother is the one who showed deputies where they were.
A tip came in on October 23. His parents let investigators into the phone, where reports say they found extremist propaganda and information about explosives. Reports say he asked about drones and explosives for an indoor attack. No target had been identified. He faces a charge of making or attempting to make a destructive device, and the district says he is no longer enrolled.
It is the ninth ISIS-related case in the United States this year and the fifth arrest in two months. The Program on Extremism says more than half of this year’s ISIS-related arrests involved people 21 or younger. The recruiter never has to set foot in this country. He reaches a teenager through a platform and a private message, then asks for secrecy.
The X is a family that misses the combination of extremist contacts and unexplained dangerous materials because nobody knows when to ask for help.
Three moves this week. Talk: ask your kid directly about anyone online encouraging secrecy, violence or dangerous experiments. Plan: at church, school events and the mall, know two exits and a meeting point outside. Report: credible threats go to authorities, not to a confrontation in the bedroom.
Today’s SITREP has the warning signs and the full breakdown. 📱