Man Suspected of Carrying Ammonium Nitrate in Backpack Taken into Custody near Pentagon

Fox ^ | Fox

[Nachum]

Suspect a Former Marine Corps Reservist

ARLINGTON, Va. - UPDATE:

FOX News has confirmed that the man taken into custody early Friday after being found near the Pentagon with suspicious materials in his backpack is former Marine Corps reservist Yonathan Melaku.

22-year-old Melaku was arrested in Arlington Cemetery overnight.

He was believed to have a backpack containing 5 lbs of a substance that was labeled ammonium nitrate. Tests showed the material to be an "inert" substance.

A notebook was also found in his bag with words such as Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Melaku was a Lance Corporal Marine corps reservist who joined in August of 2007.

According to Marine Corps records, Melaku is a Muslim.

Melaku was arrested and charged with four counts of Grand Larceny after a rash of vehicle tamperings in Alexandria, Va. in May.

A man was in custody Friday after a major security alert outside the Pentagon.

The incident began when a man -- believed to be a naturalized US citizen who came to the US from Ethiopia -- was found in the nearby Arlington National Cemetery overnight Thursday. The man was arrested at the scene.

[TennesseeGirl]

It's a potent oxidizing agent.

We had the same thought. The news reports I heard today were downplaying the ammonium nitrate, and the news reader made it sound so innocuous. I was not reassured.

[TennesseeGirl]

He seems like a small time criminal, and there were no explosives in his backpack. He wasn’t a threat to the Pentagon.

Right. Just like the folks in the federal bldg in Oklahoma City. Tim McVeigh was just fertilizing. I'm sure Melaku was just putting a little fertilizer down on the gravesites in Arlington Cemetery after hours.

[Mr. Wright]

Yonathan Melaku?

Will Hussein Obama call for a “Beer Summit”?

[piasa]

Update:

Reservist Charged in ’10 Building Shootings [Yonathan Melaku]
NY Times ^ | June 23, 2011 | Sean Collins Walsh Posted on
http:/www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/us/24reservist.html
Friday, June 24, 2011 6:55:57 PM by La Enchiladita