Mustafa Mousab Alowemer, a Pittsburgh resident and a recent graduate of a Pittsburgh public high school, was arrested on Wednesday based on a federal complaint charging him with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), and two counts of distributing information relating to an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction relating to his plan to attack a church in Pittsburgh.

FBI Special Agent Nicholas Edquist said in the affidavit that Alowemer plotted to bomb the Legacy International Worship Center, a church on the North Side of Pittsburgh. In or around May 2019, Alowemer distributed multiple guides and documents relating to the construction and use of explosives and IEDs via social networking services to a person who he believed to be a fellow ISIS supporter. The person was, in fact, an FBI employee. In June 2019, Alowemer purchased items that he believed were necessary to assemble a destructive device.