Xavier Pelkey, 19, is now charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, along with the possession of unregistered destructive devices.
The homemade bombs, according to court records, were cooked up and concocted out of easily purchased items. That is the new ISIS MO: use what you have and can find to maim and kill.Months ago the teenager allegedly had an intricate ISIS-inspired plot with associates in Kentucky and Illinois and targets included churches, mosques and synagogues in Chicago.
The superseding indictment from a few weeks ago may indicate that this was a more serious threat to Chicago than first thought. "Guys, I don't think there's any question the message is, you may be watched, you may be talking to an undercover informant, you may be discovered in some other fashion....the presence of these weapons certainly support the government's theory here, that you could face real consequences just as this defendant is facing," said Soffer.