The Foiled Portland Bombing Plot

Mohamed Osman Mohamud pleaded not guilty on Nov. 29 to charges that he attempted to detonate a weapon of mass destruction in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 26. Authorities arrested Mohamud while he was trying to detonate an inert improvised explosive device provided to him by federal authorities in a sting operation. Though Mohamud lacked the skill to construct and deploy an explosive device, he demonstrated the intent and thus the threat that such grassroots militants continue to pose.