A Taco Bell cashier’s alleged plot for a mass taking pictures at a Hindu temple close to Chicago was thwarted by a tip-off from one of his colleagues, investigators say.
Alexandros Paporakis, 19, from Palatine, Illinois, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with one rely of making a terrorist menace and one rely of illegal possession of a weapon.
Paporakis allegedly despatched a message about the deliberate attack on Sunday to the co-worker, who alerted authorities, officers said.
Police said they discovered writings in which Paporakis recognized as a white supremacist and wrote about his hatred for non-white people.
Palatine police chief William Nord said on Thursday they were notified about a mass taking pictures plot on Sunday by someone who had obtained “concerning electronic communications” from Paporakis.
“These communications played a vital role in bringing this matter to the attention of law enforcement,” said the police chief.
According to CBS, the BBC’s US associate, prosecutors said the tipster had labored with Paporakis.
Nord said a crimson Honda RDX registered to Paporakis entered the car park of a “known Hindu temple” in the suburb of Aurora at Sunday lunchtime.
The suspect allegedly tried to open fire, but the gun jammed, so he drove home, where he lived with his mom.
According to NBC Chicago, Paporakis advised his colleague over cellphone messages that his gun had jammed and he got out of there “super-fast”.
Once home, he “searched internet trying to learn how to unjam his gun & called a colleague informing them of [his] intent to carry out a mass shooting”, reports NBC Chicago.
He is thought to have acted alone.
The police chief said officers had searched Paporakis’ home, where they discovered a rifle, loaded magazines, a whole bunch of rounds of rifle ammunition and physique armour.
Nord said they also found an eight-page doc by the suspect containing “extremist ideologies” and revealing his plans for an attack.
In the writings, he described himself as a “sociopathic white supremacist neo-Nazi”, according to CBS.
Police have questioned Paporakis’ mom, who was said to be unco-operative.
The Hindu temple recognized by native media as the supposed goal said it had applied new security measures.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the incident “adds to growing concerns over racist hostility and anti-India hate in the US”.
US congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois said he was “horrified” by the incident.
In a Facebook assertion, he said he and his household worship at the temple and were there last Sunday.
The Chicago metropolitan space is home to one of the greatest Indian-American populations in the US.
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