A 19-year-old man was arrested for plotting an attack “potentially targeting” a Hindu place of worship near Chicago, with the authorities recovering a document expressing white supremacist views and containing references to violence against people of “Indian descent”.
The teen, Alexandros Paporakis was arrested on Sunday after police in Palatine, a suburb near Chicago, received information about a potential mass shooting.
The information came from a person who had received a “concerning” document from Paporakis that outlined the alleged plan to carry out a mass shooting, the police said. The suspect had allegedly shared images depicting a rifle, rifle magazines, body armour and other tactical equipment.
Paporakis was located and arrested when he was leaving his home.
Weapons, white supremacist content found
During searches at Paporakis’ home, the police recovered a rifle, several loaded rifle magazines, hundreds of rounds of additional rifle ammunition, tactical equipment and other items believed to be relevant to the investigation.
The recovered items included a tactical vest with body armour and a patch displaying “imagery associated with white supremacist extremism”, the police said.
The officers also found a document attributed to Paporakis that was titled “Why I Fought: A.K.A.: (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto)”.
The document contained statements “expressing white supremacist and extremist ideologies, including references to violence directed toward individuals of South Asian heritage,...