Broward man allegedly planned to detonate bomb at New York Stock Exchange, feds say

A Coral Springs man was arrested Wednesday after an eight-month investigation where multiple undercover FBI employees posed as members of a “militia” and the suspect successfully built a piece for an explosive that he was allegedly planning to detonate at the New York Stock Exchange, according to federal court records.

Harun Abdul-Malik Yener, 30, faces one count of attempted use of an explosive to damage or destroy a building used in interstate or foreign commerce, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

The investigation began in February after the FBI received a tip that Yener kept “bombmaking schematics” in a storage unit in Coral Springs, the criminal complaint said. He consented to the FBI searching the unit, where they found sketches and materials that could be used to make an improvised explosive. As the investigation continued, undercover FBI employees and a confidential source communicated with Yener, according to the criminal complaint.

Throughout the investigation, Yener told undercover FBI employees that the U.S. government needed a “reset”, that he wanted to join “an anti-government militia” and that he planned to target the New York Stock Exchange building on Wall Street the week of Thanksgiving, the criminal complaint said.

Last week, after he successfully built a remote trigger, Yener recorded a video statement he said he would send to news media after the attack was carried out, explaining that the attack was “just the beginning of a new era” and encouraging others to join his cause, the criminal complaint said.

Yener, who is unhoused, kept his belongings in an unlocked storage unit in Coral Springs, according to the criminal complaint. He allowed law enforcement to search the unit in March, where they found numerous notebooks of drawings and diagrams of explosives, missiles and other improvised explosive devices. In some notebooks, he had written things about “preparing for combat” and how a “battle” was impending, the complaint said.

He told FBI agents in March that people who claimed to be members of ISIS messaged him on Facebook in 2015, attempting to recruit him but that he was waiting for a chance to “act” within the U.S. He said he knew how to build “rockets” and “bombs,” the complaint said, and his internet history showed he had been researching how to make explosives since at least 2017.

Yener was fired in July 2023 from a Coconut Creek restaurant where he worked after he threatened to bring guns to the restaurant because he believed his coworkers stole money from him, his former supervisor told law enforcement, according to the criminal complaint. He had made references to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and the gunman.

A confidential source for the FBI began communicating with Yener in June. Yener told the source that he previously tried to join the Proud Boys and a separate group who subscribes to the “boogaloo” concept, a term which some violent extremists have rallied around and use to refer to “a violent uprising or impending civil war,” according to the complaint. He said the groups denied him because he “expressed a desire to pursue martyrdom.”

In the days afterward, the confidential source recorded multiple phone calls with Yener where he discussed having most of the supplies he would need to make an explosive and possible targets, including a power plant, retail stores, stadiums or schools, according to the complaint. In one call, Yener said he went to a shopping mall to find a drone capable of carrying a device like a grenade, but none were big enough.

“Yener told the (confidential source) any of the aforementioned targets would be good targets because they would all be full of densely packed crowds of people, which would ensure maximum casualties,” the criminal complaint said.

Yener and the confidential source met in person in August, where Yener talked about needing to be prepared for “civil unrest” after the presidential election in November, the complaint said. He told the confidential source he was preparing by gathering supplies to build an explosive.

Yener met with an undercover FBI employee in late September where he talked about wanting to join a militia and wanting to build an explosive for the militia, according to the complaint, because the country needs “a revolution,” he said. He told the undercover employee that he needed a place to build and store the device and that he would have a mental “list” of targets for their next meeting.

Yener then started keeping bombmaking supplies in a “secure location” that the undercover FBI employee said was part of the “militia” but was really controlled by authorities, the complaint said. In early October, Yener told the undercover employee that he decided the New York Stock Exchange would be the target, and on Oct. 30, he started building and testing an improvised explosive.

“There is one place that would be hella easy … the stock exchange, that would be a great hit,” Yener allegedly told the undercover employee on Oct. 3, the criminal complaint said. “Tons of people would support it. They would see it and think dude, this guy makes sense, they are [profanity] robbing us. So that’s perfect.”

He also claimed to have done research on the building’s security and would further research the best place to leave the explosive and how to disguise it, the criminal complaint said. He said he would travel to New York to carry out the attack.

Multiple undercover FBI employees met in Sunrise with Yener on Oct. 23. He was told that it was a meeting of “leaders of various like-minded groups” to discuss their “upcoming plots” and how they might coordinate them. At that meeting, Yener told the group how he would build and detonate an improvised explosive outside of the New York Stock Exchange the week before Thanksgiving, the criminal complaint said.

“The Stock Exchange, we want to hit that, because it will wake people up,” Yener allegedly said at the meeting, according to the complaint.

He repeatedly said news outlets should receive a statement explaining his motive for the attack and that the envelope the statement arrived in should have “a predetermined symbol or signature that would also be used during future attacks,” the complaint said.

Believing it was a site belonging to “the militia,” Yener traveled to law enforcement’s secured location and worked on his explosive on three separate dates in late October and early November while monitored by an undercover agent, the complaint said. On Nov. 4, he successfully created a remote trigger device. A few days later, he worked for several hours to try to “amplify the voltage” the remote trigger device generated.

In early November, the days leading up to his arrest, Yener texted one of the undercover agents a list of demands from the government after the attack that included mass deportation of “illegal and undocumented immigrants” and “programs intended to curb inflation,” among other things, the complaint said. He also made an audio recording of the demands that Yener wanted to be played by news outlets after the attack.

Federal prosecutors said in a news release Wednesday evening that Yener made his initial appearance in court earlier in the day and remains in custody.

Yener’s attorney information was not available Wednesday. His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 4 in Miami.