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Investigators first perused Hester's social media accounts in September. Reuters

A Missouri man and Army veteran was charged Tuesday in federal court for attempting to prepare a President’s Day terrorist attack with undercover officers he believed were affiliated with the Islamic State terror group, according to local reports and the Department of Justice.

Robert Lorenzo Hester Jr. was arrested Friday afternoon and charged in U.S. District Court of Kansas City with “attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization,” the DOJ said in a statement.

The 25-year-old Hester of Jefferson City allegedly contacted the undercover FBI employee on Feb. 2 via a text message and five other times right up until his arrest Friday, just days before Monday’s national holiday. During those exchanges, authorities said Hester expressed excitement to be planning an attack that would’ve targeted trains, a train station and buses in Kansas City, located about 160 miles east of Jefferson City.

It was “going to be a good day for Muslims worldwide,” Hester said. It was not immediately clear what Hester's religion was, but one journalist said that he was also known by an apparent Arabic name.

Last month, the undercover employee asked Hester to obtain 9-volt batteries, duct tape, copper wire and roofing nails, in the hopes of using the materials to create a bomb. Hester, according to an affidavit, responded: “I’m just ready to help. I’m ready to help any way I can.”

“First on social media, then during face-to-face meetings with an undercover FBI employee, this defendant repeatedly expressed his intent to engage in acts of violent jihad against the United States,” U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri Tammy Dickinson said. “He believed he was part of an ISIS-sponsored terrorist attack that would result in the deaths and injuries of many innocent victims. He readily participated in the preparations for an attack, provided materials and resources for an attack, and voiced his intent to carry out an attack. I commend the FBI for protecting the public from a security threat.”

Authorities began investigating Hester, who was discharged from the Army after less than a year of service in 2013, in September and first examined his public posts on social media accounts.

Terrorism