Florida teenager arrested in an Islamic State-linked bomb plot

On October 26, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office arrested Jude Sleeper, a 15-year-old student at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, FL, and charged him with making or attempting to make a destructive device. Additional charges are possible as the investigation continues, the sheriff’s office said. The investigation began after law enforcement officials received credible information that Sleeper was in communication with Islamic State supporters and members. According to investigators, Sleeper asked for guidance on building drones and explosives to attack people at an unidentified indoor location. On October 23, Sleeper’s parents gave investigators consent to search his phone, where they found Islamic State propaganda and instructions for making explosive devices and chemical compounds. On October 26, investigators returned to Sleeper’s home and informed his parents about the files they found on his phone. The teenager’s mother alerted investigators to two jars in his bedroom. Sleeper told investigators that the jars contained chemical agents used to make triacetone triperoxide (TATP)—a homemade explosive that terrorists have used to produce improvised explosive devices. After the home was evacuated and the bomb squad responded to secure the material, Sleeper was arrested. The arrest marks the ninth Islamic State-linked case or incident in the United States this year, and the fifth Islamic State-related arrest in the last two months. This case also marks the third teenager arrested over the last month for alleged involvement with the jihadist group. According to George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, the average age of individuals charged in the United States for Islamic State-related offenses since the fall of the caliphate is 27.4 years. Will Selber is a retired US CENTCOM foreign area officer with over 4 years in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the owner of Grumpy Combat Veteran on Substack.