Man arrested for plotting mass shooting at mosque in Florida

Detained American said he wanted to give Muslims 'a taste of their own medicine'

The Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) revealed on Monday the arrest of Bernandino Bolatete, 69, a man allegedly planning to carry out mass shooting at a mosque in Florida, CBS News reported.

Bolatete, who hails from Philippines and holds a green card, was charged for possessing an unregistered gun’s silencer, a federal crime, in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said on the tip off from a confidential source who told the police in November that Bolatete "had expressed a strong anti-Islam sentiment and was planning to conduct a mass shooting of individuals at the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida," the FBI sent an undercover agent to establish a relationship with the terrorist to confirm his motive.



The agent then recorded several conversations with Bolatete and confirmed that 'he planned to be killed by police after shooting at mosque attendees from a nearby tower.'

"I just want to give these freaking people a taste of their own medicine, you know," said Bolatete as quoted by the FBI agent.

Bolatete is also said to have expressed his desire to be killed by the police after the attack. He said that he had lost a kidney during a shooting back in the Philippines and that his remaining kidney was becoming weak.

"Bolatete specifically mentioned that he did not plan to survive the attack," the agent wrote in the documents FBI.

Bolatete is also allegedly to have said that he possessed five guns, including semiautomatic rifles and that he wanted to buy a silencer because he "might need it".

An FBI spokesperson said that he is being detained by the authorities for interrogation and did not tell where he is kept.