KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - The trial is beginning for a man accused of conspiring to detonate a bomb at a Florida Keys beach in solidarity with the Islamic State militant group.
Opening statements were scheduled Monday morning in Key West federal court in the case of 25-year-old Harlem Suarez. Prosecutors say the trial is expected to last about two weeks.
The FBI says Suarez told an informant he wanted to detonate a backpack bomb on a Key West beach. He was arrested in 2015 after accepting an inert device from an FBI employee posing as an extremist.
Prosecutors say Suarez drew inspiration from the Islamic State for his alleged plot.
Suarez faces a lengthy prison term if convicted of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and supporting terrorism.
