Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis arrested in New York Federal Reserve terror plot

Federal authorities running a sting operation arrested a 21-year-old man who they say was planning to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in lower Manhattan, officials said Wednesday.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis was arrested after an attempt to detonate what he believed was a 1,000-pound bomb, authorities said Wednesday.

He is expected to make an initial court appearance Wednesday at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn.

Authorities say the public was not in danger because the suspect never acquired the necessary material for a bomb.

The "explosives that he allegedly sought and attempted to use had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement and posed no threat to the public," according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch

He faces charges of "attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al Qaeda."

His arrest came as a result of the "culmination of an undercover operation" after he was being monitored by the FBI New York Field Office's Joint Terrorism Task Force, the statement said.