Florida man is accused of helping supposed bomb plot at KC event commemorating 9/11

A 20-year-old Florida man has been arrested and charged with telling a federal informant he met online to plant a bomb at a Kansas City event commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Federal prosecutors in Florida announced the charges Thursday against Joshua R. Goldberg of Orange Park, Fla. According to the criminal complaint, there was no bomb. Goldberg was charged after communicating online with an FBI informant from July to September.

Prosecutors said Goldberg gave information about how to build a pressure cooker bomb and instructed the informant to fill the bomb with nails and other items dipped in rat poison before placing it at an upcoming memorial in Kansas City commemorating the 9/11 attacks.

It is unclear whether Goldberg had any direct knowledge of bomb making. He is accused of sending five website links with information about bombs to a confidential informant. The informant was directed by the FBI to contact Goldberg as part of the investigation.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent began investigating Goldberg after linking him to a Twitter account that claimed association with terrorism and took credit for “inspiring” the attack on the May 3 Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest in Garland, Texas, in which two gunmen were killed.

Another witness told the agent that Goldberg was merely an “online troll” and a “proponent of radical free speech” who was involved in Internet hoaxes.

If convicted, Goldberg faces up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI and sheriff’s office investigators in Clay County, Fla.

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Florida man is accused of helping supposed bomb plot at KC event commemorating 9/11."