Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 1 of 12
AO 91(Rev.08/09) CriminalComplaint

U NITED STATES D ISTRICT C OURT
forthe
Southern DistrictofFlorida

United StatesofAm erica
V.

VICENTE A.SOLANO

casexo.

/@ - ,J'- :#M.
f-J' G3m

CRIM INAL COM PLAINT

1,the complainantinthiscase, statethatthefollowing istrueto thebestofmy knowledge and belief
.

Onoraboutthedatets)of
Southern

October20 2017

Districtof

Florida

CodeSection

inthecounty of MiamiDadeandel
sewhere in the
,t
hedefendantts)violated:

OffenseDescri
ption

18 USC 2332(a)

Attemptingto use a wapon ofmassdestructoin;the defendantdid knowingly
at
ty, a weapon ofm assdestruction that
i tem ptto use,withoutlawfulauthori
,
s,
a
dest
r
uc
t
i
ve
devi
c
e
as
def
i
ned
i
n
Title 18, Uni
,
ted States Code, Section
92
1(a)(4),againstpersonsandpropedywithinthe UnitedStates, and the
offense and the resultsofthe offensewoul
d have affected interstate and
f
or
ei
gn
commer
ce
i
n
vi
ol
at
i
on
of
Ti
t
l
e
18
,
ted StatesCode, Secti
, Uni
(
on23323

a)(2).

+

.

Thiscrim inalcomplaintisbased on these facts:
SEE AU ACHED AFFIDAVIT OF SPECIALAGENT

W Continuedontheattachedsheet
.

T

Complainant'
ssi
gnature

DAVID CLANCY
Printed nameandtitle

Swornto before meand signed in my presence.
I

Date:

1O/ 2 17

.

..

.

j--y

.

Judge'
ssignature

City and state'
.

Miam i, Florida

/p.
#

CHRIS M.MCALILEY, U.S.Magistrate Judge
Printednameand title

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 2 of 12

A FFID AV IT IN SU PPO R T O F CR IM INA L CO M PLA IN T

1,David Clancy,firstbeing duly sworn,hereby deposeand statethe following:

1. 1mn aSpecialAgentwith theFederalBureau oflnvestigationCûFBI'')andhavebeen
since 2009. A m ong m y duties as an FB ISpecialA gent,I am responsible forthe investigation of

violations offederallaw,including federallaws related to nationalsecurity,terrorism support

activities,and the useofweaponsofm assdestruction.lam currently assigned to theFBl'sJoint

Terrorism Task Force($ûJTTF''),wheremy primary responsibilitiesincludetheinvestigation of
intem ationalterrorism .

2. Iam fnmiliarwith thefadsand cireumstancessetforth in thisAffidavitasa resultof
m y participation in the investigation;as a resultofm y experience,training,and background as a
Special A gent w ith the FBl and w ith the JTTF; as a result of personal observations and
exam ination of relevant evidence'
, and as a result of infonnation provided to m e by other 1aw

enforcem entofficersand witnesses. The inform ation contained in thisAffidavitisnotinclusive
of all the facts of the investigation and is provided for the lim ited purpose of establishing

probablecauseto obtain acrim inalcom plaint. Iam relying on drafttranscriptsprepared by FB1
linguists forthe quoted conversation excerpts included in this Affidavit,as w ell as sum m arized

portionsofmeetings,duetothefactthatthemajorityoftheconversationswerein Spanish.
This A ffidavitis m ade in supportof a crim inalcom plaintfor the arrestofV ICEN TE

ADOLFO SOLANO (t$SOLANO''),who did knowingly atlempt to use a weapon of mass
destruction againsta person orproperty w ithin the United States,w here the offense or the results
of the offense would have affected interstate or foreign com m erce, in violation of Title 18,

United StatesCode,Section 2332a(a)(2).

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 3 of 12

PROBABLE CAUSE

4. On or aboutOctober 15, 2004,the United States Secretary of State designated Al
-

Qaeda in Iraq ((tAQl'') then known asJam 'atal Taw hid wa'al-lihad, as a Foreign Terrorist
Organization (tTTO'') under Section 219 of the lm m igration and Nationality Act and
Specitically Designated GlobalTerroristunderSection 1(b)ofExecutive Order13224 On or
.

aboutMay 15,2015,the Secretary ofStateamended thedesignation ofAQ1asan FTO under
Section 219 ofthelmm igration and Nationality Actand Specifically Designated GlobalTerrorist

underSection 1(b)ofExecutiveOrder13224toaddthealiasIslamicStateofIraqandtheLevant
((1ISlL'')asitsprimary nnme.TheSecretary also addedthefollowing aliasestotheFTO listing:
The lslamic State of lraq and al-sham ((t1SIS'' which is how the FTO willbe referenced

herein),The lslnmic State oflraq and Syria,ad-Dawla al'lslamiyya fial-tlraq wa-sh-sham ,
Daesh,Dawla alIslamiya,and Al-Furqan Establishm entfor M edia Production. On Septem ber
21,2015,the Secretary added the following aliasesto the FTO listing:lslam ic State, ISIL,and
ISIS.To date,ISIS remainsadesignated FTO .
5. In late Septem ber 2017, FB1 agents began an investigation of SO LA N O . The
investigation w as initiated based on inform ation provided by a Contidential H um an Source

($1CHS''),whohadbeenworkingwiththeDnlgEnforcementAdministration(DEA) Throughout
.

thecourseofhis/herwork with the DEA and the FBI, theCHS hasprovided reliableinfonnation.
The CHS indicated thatSOLANO had become increasingly upsetwith the policiesofthe United
States Governm entand its activitiesthroughoutthe world. SO LA N O cited these grievances as
motivation forhisdesireto conducta terroristattack in the United States. SOLAN O explained to

the CHS thathisintended targetwould be a specified mallin M iami(the Specified M a1l)and
that he plnnned to strike on çdBlack Friday,''believed to refer to the Friday afler Thanksgiving,

which this year falls on Novem ber 24. The initial conversations about this subject were

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 4 of 12

unrecorded prior to the FBI's involvem ent;however,all of the above infonnation was later
reiterated by SO LAN O in recorded conversations with the CH S. The Specified M allis a large
shopping and entertainm ent com plex that attracts local residents and international custom ers.
Black Friday isknow n asone ofthe busiestshopping daysofthe year.

6. ln an effort to gather m ore infonnation about SOLAN O'S intentions, the CH S
explained to SOLANO thatthe CHS m ay be able to introduce SOLANO to someonewho m ay
beableto assistSOLANO in hiseffortto conductthe atlack. The CHS furtherstatedthathe/she
w ould need to know if SO LAN O w as seriousabouthisattack aspirationsbefore the CHS would
brokerthe introduction. On Septem ber 13,2017,the CH S received a series oftextm essagesthat

contained threevideosfrom telephone number786-560-xxxx. Telephone number786-560-xxxx
w as know n to the CH S as the telephone num ber used by SO LAN O .The three videos sent by

SOLANO featured a m an wearing a black m ask and shirtstanding in frontof a black flag
identicalto the one used by ISIS. The CH S identitied the voice ofthe individualin the video as
thatofSOLAN O .

7. From my training and experience,Iknow thatvideosare often provided by would-be
attackers to terroristgroups in an effortto show allegiance to the group. Later these videos can
be used by the group as evidence thatthe attacker w as in factaffiliated with the organization. In
som e cases,these videos becom e propaganda used in an effortto inspire further attacks. The
person in the video,w hom your affiant assesses to be SO LAN O , spoke in Spanish; outlined
below are verbatim transcripts ofEnglish translations ofthe three videos sentby SO LAN O :

gS-SOLANOI
V ideo 1:

S:
1 am here because 1 like the way that ISIS confronts the U nited States and the
countries of the coalition.They're strong.lt's a group that is grow ing in socialm edia.I
love thatthere is going to be a holy war.A lm osteveryone is starting to open their eyes

and areunderstanding what-whatitisabout.Uh (clearsthroatl,thisgovernment'stilthy
3

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 5 of 12

and dirty politics...Terrorists- the United States isthe m ostterroristcountry ofthem all.

Itinvadeswhen itwantsto and when it'sconvenientforthem.Thatiswhy Iam joining
the Islamicgroup,the holy war,in thenam e ofAllah,ofourleaderAbu.W earegoingto
continue to grow.Thisiswhy we are going to plantbombsso they can see what-whatis

theIslamicgroup and sothey can seetheinjustices,whatSuarezdidtous.1am goingto
planta bomb like in-like in Boston,in the name ofAllah,in the name ofAllah.That's
how it's going to be done.
V ideo 2:

S:
lam here because l am a sym pathizer ofthe lslam ic group,ISIS.1like the force
thatitusesto attack.ltdoesnotallow itselfto be defeated.On thecontrary,itisgrowing

morebecauseofsocialmedia.W emustjointheISIS cause.lt'snotjustthemiddle-east
anymore,it'snotjustthe Muslims,now allthecountriesarejoining thiscausebecause

w e have opened our eyes.There is going to be a holy w ar,a holy w ar in the nam e of
Allah in orderto defeata11ofthese terroristcountries,such as the United States.ltis the
m ain country.They are tenorists who have killed the m ostpeople and as often as ithas
wanted to in order to keep everything,in order to keep everything.A nd now ,w e have
thatracistpresidentw ho is a suprem acist,W hite,who doesnot like Blacks,does notlike
the Chinese,he does notlike the M uslim s.He doesn't like the Hispanics.He does not
like anybody.They areindeed murderers,genocidists,invadersofthiscountry who cnme
to this country to killallof the lndians.They abolished them ,and now they're telling us
to getoutof here.They are the ones w ho have to leave.Fuck that.In the nnm e of A llah
and ourleader,Abu,wearegoingto defeatyou.
Video 3:

S:

Iam makingthisvideobecauselam joiningthecauseoftheIslamicgroup,ISIS,

because itis grow ing in socialm edia and because it is confronting the United Statesand
the-and the coalition and llike thatbecause they are strong.To be frank,they are doing a
holy w ar, a fair one, a fair one because they are, because they are being attacked by
countries- because they wantto take the interests they're after.And to be,and to be

fralzk,theUnited Statesisthe mostterroristcountry outthere.W e mustjoin since the
lslnmicsocialmediaisgrow-isgrowing.W e mustjoin so we can also attack them and
plant a bom b so they can feelwhat-what-so they can see whatis.Like in Boston,like
Suarez wanted to do in the Keys,that'show they're going to getit,and even worse.This
racist president, W hite suprem acist w ho does not like H ispanics, w ho does not like

M uslims,Chinese,Blacks,justhisrace.They are othergenocidistinvaderswho killed
the lndians and abolished them all.They are doing thateverywhere,in the m iddle-east,
evelywhere.ln the nam e ofAllah and the holy war,and ourleader,Abu,wearegoing to
grow and wearegoing to show you thatwe are going to defeatyou.
8. The above references to Suarez during the videos appear to relate to the federal
crim inal case of United States v.H arlem Suarez,U nited States DistrictC ourtfor the Southern
District of Florida,Case N o. 15-10O09-CR-M artinez. Suarez w as prosecuted for attem pting to

4

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 6 of 12

providem aterialsupportto ISIS and attem pting to use aweapon ofm assdestrudion;heplanned
to explodeabom b on acrowded beach in Key W est.Therewasmediacoverageofthecase, and
the trialoccurred thispastJanuary. The above reference to Boston appearsto refer to the April

15,2013 Boston M arathon bom bing. Thatcase involved two brotherswho placed and detonated
pressure-cookerbombsin acrowd watchingtheBoston M arathon.
9. In addition to 1S1S'sterroristad ivities in Syria and lraq,the organization calls for its

supportersto conductattacksin the W estifthey eannottravelabroadto eondud violentjihad.
Adherents to their cause are notrequired to gain approval from the organization in order to
conductattacks in theirhom e countries.

10. On September 30,2017,the CHS drove to SOLAN O'Sknown residence in M iam i,
Florida. SOLANO entered the CHS'S vehicle and the tw o drove to a nearby coffee shop. The
entire m eeting w as audio-recorded.The CH S explained to SO LAN O that the videos m ade by

SOLANO were provided to the CHS'S contad . The CHS indieated thatthe contad had som e
additionalquestions of SOLAN O before he w ould agree to m eet SO LAN O . The CHS asked if
anyone else knew of SO LAN O 'S plans.SO LA N O indicated that he had not told anyone ofhis

plans and thathe had m ade the videos in the room he rented atthe aforementioned residence.
SOLANO stated thatthe wom an from whom he rents a room does notknow thathe made the
videos and noted that he keeps a sketch of a bom b diagram hidden in his room . SO LAN O
reiterated his desire to attack the Specitied M all on B lack Friday. SO LAN O em phasized his

attackdesiresby statingthathewantsto itsetoffabomband ghas)theballsto doit.''Following
the m eeting, the CH S received several texts of diagram s that showed bom b com ponents,
including one that appeared to be hand-draw n. The texts were once again received from

telephonenumber786-560-xxxx,utilized by SOLAN O.

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 7 of 12

11. On October2,2017,the CHS m etSOLAN O in a parking lotlocated at 11865 SW
26thstreetM iam i, Florida. Physicalsurveillanceconfinned SOLAN O wasin hisvehicle,a 1994
N issan Sentra bearing Florida license plate xxx-xxx,w aiting to enter the CH S'S vehicle. ln an

audio-recorded meeting,the CHS explained to SOLAN O thatthe CHS'S contacthad requested
that SOLANO purchase a new telephone prior to their meeting. The CH S explained to

SOLANO the pup ose ofthe new telephone w ould beto have a secure line ofcom munication
thatcould notbe attributed to SOLANO. SOLANO indicated thathe understood the need for
secure comm unications and thathe would pick up the telephone and provide the numberto the
CHS.Afterthemeeting,SOLANO departed in hisvehicle and returned to hisknown residence.
12. O n O ctober6,2017,SOLA N O purchased a new cellulartelephone and provided the

CHS with hisnew num ber,786-334-xxxx. TheCH S indicated to SOLAN O thatthe CHS would
provide the telephone num ber to the CH S'S contact. Later that evening,an FB1 Undercover

Employee (CtUCE1'') posing as the CHS'Scontact,sentSOLANO a textmessage and made
arrangem ents for a telephone call. D uring this recorded conversation, SO LA N O stated that he
w as interested in helping w ith the U CE 'S cause and w as serious in this desire. SO LAN O
provided a litany of reasons thatled to his longstanding dislike of the United States.SO LAN O
took issue w ith foreign and dom estic policies and described his feeling of exclusion that stem s
from his tem porary im m igration status.Based on these grievances,SO LAN O explained thathe
w as available for w hatever w as needed.U CEI expressed a desire to m eet SO LAN O and also
explained that he/she w anted to introduce SO LAN O to an older individual,w ho w as in facta

second FB1UndercoverEmployee(ûkUCE2''),who had thepurported abilityto help SOLANO.
SOLA N O reassured U CEI that SO LAN O 'S phone line w as clean and w as being used only for
theircom m unication.

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 8 of 12

13. On October 9,2017,U CEI spoke w ith SOLA N O in a recorded telephone call.U CE I

explained thatUCEI and UCE2 had viewed the videosprepared by SOLAN O and both agreed
thata trip to M iam iw asw arranted to hear SO LA N O 'Sattack ideas.SO LA N O stated thathe w as
com pletely available to m eet w ith the U CES and that they were united in the sam e cause.ln
addition,SO LAN O stated that he feels he needs to do this attack and that he w ants it to be
professional.SO LAN O and U CE I confirm ed plans to m eeton the evening ofO ctober 12,2017.
14. ln a recorded m eeting on October 12,2017,U CEI and the CH S drove to SO LAN O 'S
known residence to m eetSO LAN O . SOLA N O entered U CEI'S vehicle,and the group departed
the residence. A fter fonnally m aking the introduction betw een SOLAN O and U CE I,the CH S
w as dropped off. SO LAN O and UCE I began to discuss S(lL/tlktl's resentnAent toyvard the
United Statesand hism otivation to conductan attack.SO LA N O stated thathe wanted to conduct

the attack tdwhere there is gsiclmore people.'' SOLANO then disclosed thathe initially had
considered another target but then decided on the Specified M all as his intended target.W hen
asked w hetherhe had gone to the attack location,SO LA N O explained how he would accom plish

hisatlack(thefollowingstatementsaretranslationsfrom SpanishtoEnglish):
V S: Ihave gone,lhave gone there.lw asthinking w here the- w here the,uh,w here

thegnnmedhotell- atthe(namedhotel),butthat's(UIJ.
V S: It's on 36th5butno, they don'tletm e in.Ithas a thing thatgoesup and dow n.

Youknow? Comparedto gtheSpecifiedM alllwherethereisa1otofpeople.
VS: AtgtheSpecitiedM allj,themostimportantmallhere.1goin,lplaceitinthe-the
m allthere.

VS: (TheSpecifiedM alll,closetowherellive.lgoinwithoutaproblem.lshouldn't
have any problem s.1go unnoticed.
V S: 1place it,and that'sit.
V S: lw as looking atthe food court.lw as looking atthe area w here they sing,w hich
isw here there is m ore people.Those are the areasw here m ore people gather.
7

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 9 of 12

VS: And it'seasy becauselook,1wasnoticing... Igo in,lsitdown,1leaveit,and

goodbye.lleaveit(Ul1.lwon'thaveaproblem withthat.
W hen asked ifhe w anted to conductone attack or m ultiple attacks,SOLA N O explained,ltlaook,
I think it's like w hen som eone kills som eone. lt becom es easier.'' SO LAN O also explained
which entrance they would use atthe Specified M allto provide the easiestm eans ofescape after
planting a bom b. SO LAN O inform ed U CEI thatthe day ofthe attack did notm atterto him ,lkas

longasthere isgsicla1otofpeople''and thatSOLANO'Sûûmain motivation isto doan attack.''
SOLANO explained thathe could buy things fora tçcooking bomb''(referring to a pressure
cookerbombland suggested thatthe bomb could beputinside luggage and detonated with a
cellular telephone. Later in the conversation, SO LAN O offered to take U CE I to see the
Specitied M all.U CE I accepted, and the pair travelled together to the Specified M all w here
SOLA N O w alked the U CE through hisfullattack plan.A fterw ard,U CEI returned SO LAN O to
hisresidence and the tw o agreed to m eetthe follow ing day.
15. ln a recorded m eeting on O ctober 13,2017,U CEI picked up SOLAN O athis known
residence and drove him to a hotel room in order to m eet w ith U CEZ. D uring this m eeting,
U CE2 spoke in English and used U CE I as a translator to converse w ith SOLAN O in Spanish

(SOLANO'Snativelanguage).Duringtheinitialportionofthemeeting,SOLANO reiteratedthat
he w as certain and serious about his attack plan. SO LAN O w as asked w hat organization he
thoughtU CE I and U CE2 belonged to. SOLA N O responded that he thoughtU CEI and U CE2
w ere m em bersofISIS.
16. Later,during the sam e m eeting,SO LAN O w as asked what he w anted to achieve by

thisattack andwhathismotivationwas.Herespondedwiththefollowingcomments(translated

from SpanishtoEnglish):
V S:

Okay.W hatIw antto achieve isto send a m essage.
8

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 10 of 12

W ell,uh,abomb,1don'tknow,som ething.
Som ething thatcauses harm .
Because,lhave w anted to do itbecause lhave resentm entinside,to
dem onstrate to them ,you know17. The m eeting concluded w ith U CE2's telling SOLA N O to sleep on his decision and

to callUCEIthenextmorning with his(SOLANO'S)answerregarding whetherhewanted to
proceed with the attack.

O n the m orning of October 14, 2017, SO LAN O called U CEI. In a recorded
telephone call, SO LAN O confirm ed his desire to conduct the attack and asked if U CE2 had
m ade his/her decision. U CEI contirm ed that U CE2 w as w illing to proceed. UCE I requested
thatSOLA N O obtain the following item s for use in the attack: a sketch of the area to place the
device, a disguise for SO LA N O to w ear w hen placing the device to hide from surveillance
cnm eras, and shopping bags to conceal the device w hile it was being brought to the attack
location.
19. Later that evening, SOLAN O traveled to the Specified M all. H e later texted to

U CEI a diagram ,as requested,ofthe food courtinside the m allw here he planned to place the
device. SOLA N O also provided U CE I w ith a photograph of the luggage he intended to use to
concealthe device.
The nextm orning,on October 15,2017,in a recorded telephone call,SO LA N O told
U CEI w hich m all entrance SOLA N O plnnned to utilize,discussed his disguise,and confirm ed
thatthe luggage he had senta photograph ofw ould be used to transportthe device into the m all.
U CEI told SO LA N O that he w ould speak w ith UCE2 and they w ould again talk on Tuesday,
O ctober 17,2017.
On O ctober 17,2017,U CE I and SOLAN O spoke in a recorded telephone call.
U CEI told SO LAN O thatU CE2 had been busy and has m ostofthatthing ready.U CE I stated
9

 Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 11 of 12

thathehad told UCE2 thatSOLANO previously had m entioned thathewould go to ahardware
store and getthe screw sand other item s forthe bom b.SO LAN O replied thathe hasa11ofthose
m aterialsready.

22. SOLANO m etwith UCEIand UCE2 atahotelon Friday,Odober20,2017,to put
the device together. Unbeknownstto SOLANO,the device wasinertand could never actually
explode. W hilein thehotelroom ,SOLAN O pradiced arm ing the device.
23. SOLAN O lef4thehotelroom and entered the vehicle ofUCEI. W hen they arrived at
the m all,SO LAN O took the stepsthathe believed would arm the device and the tim er began to
count dow n. SO LAN O exited U CE I'S vehicle and began to w alk tow ards the previouslydetennined m allentrance.

24. SOLANO wastaken into custody priorto entering the Specified M all. Atthetim eof
hisarrest,the Specified M allw asopen forbusiness and populated w ith shoppers.

10

 4
Case 1:17-mj-03458-CMM Document 1 Entered on FLSD Docket 10/23/2017 Page 12 of 12

CONCLUSION
25. Based upon the foregoing facts,youraffiantrespedfully subm its there is probable
cause to bclieve thatV ICEN TE A DO LFO SO LAN O did know ingly attem ptto use a w eapon of
m ass destruction against a person orproperty w ithin the U nited States,w here the offense or the
results of the offense w ould have affected interstate or foreign com m erce, in violation of Title

18,UnitedStatesCode,Section2332a(a)(2).

FU R TH ER Y O UR A FFIA NT SA Y ET N AU G H T.
/

*'

'N

DAV ID CLANCY ,SPECIAL A
T
FEDERAL BU REA U OF INVESTIGATION

Sworn to and subscribed beforem e

ThisAv ayofOctober2017.

j

j o zj
.

X(

HON .CHRIS M .M CA LILEY
UN ITED STATES M AG ISTRATE JU E
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA