Massachusetts Man Charged in Presidential Assassination Plot

WORCESTER, MA - A Worcester man currently serving time at a correctional facility in Bridgewater was charged Monday with threatening to kill the president after allegedly revealing his plot to a fellow inmate.

Alex Hernandez, 31, was charged in U.S. District Court with two counts of threatening to kill and inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States.

Federal agents learned of his plan after Hernandez, an inmate at Old Colony Correctional Center, allegedly told a fellow inmate working as a cooperating witness that he was "upset about the way his people were being treated, wanted to become a mujahedeen, had the ability to obtain weapons upon release from prison and wanted to kill the president in a lone-wolf style attack," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

He also allegedly sought false travel documents to flee the country after carrying out the attack.

Based on these allegations, an undercover agent posed as an embassy contact who could help Hernandez obtain false documents; in November of last year, under the direction of federal agents, the cooperating witness supplied Hernandez with a mailing address for the contact at the embassy.

The mailing address actually belonged to an undercover law enforcement post office box.

Hernandez allegedly proceeded to write two letters to the contact. In one, he wrote, “I am writing to you now to ask that you come see me. I am a brother in faith, a martyr; and as a martyr I wish to fulfill Allah’s wishes and not to live among infidels. The mujahedeen movement is hard but pure. I need your help and I hope to meet you in person,” according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to the complaint, the undercover agent met twice with Hernandez at the correctional facility, once on Dec. 22, 2015 and again on Feb. 12, 2016.

During the first meeting, Hernandez allegedly told the agent that he wanted to attack "the house with the big people there." The agent asked if Hernandez was referring to the White House and Hernandez confirmed that he was.

When prodded for more details about his plot, Hernandez allegedly stated, "There is always a head. He’s the one who’s always in charge. So if you attack the head, everything will go down a little bit.”

Hernandez allegedly told the agent he intended to learn how to shoot "like a sniper" and that he knew someone in Florida who had a weapon ready for him. He also expressed an interest in learning how to make explosives to place around government buildings to "create chaos," according to the complaint.

During the second meeting, Hernandez allegedly explained that he was targeting the president because the government was portraying his brothers "fighting to uphold the laws and structure of the caliphate in the Middle East" as the villains.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, court documents allege that an investigation yielded several alarming items in Hernandez's jail cell, including a document listing the former U.S. presidents with "kill" written underneath those who had been assassinated while in office. In addition, images of the September 11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden and Islamic State members holding assault weapons and the IS flag were also allegedly uncovered.

Hernandez's charges carry a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are often less than the maximum penalties.

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