Coral Springs man cleared in alleged plot to bomb iconic Wall Street institution
A Coral Springs man has been acquitted of federal charges in an alleged plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.
A jury in Miami found Harun Abdul-Hamid Yener not guilty of all charges in a five-count indictment on June 30 after his public defenders argued that the government entrapped him, setting an unstable man up with opportunities he would not have had otherwise.
According to court documents, federal agents became aware of Yener as early as 2014, when his YouTube and Google accounts were flagged for extensive searches about assembling and detonating explosive devices.
He was homeless in March 2024 when he spoke with law enforcement officials who later raided his unlocked Coral Springs storage unit.
Inside, they said they found bomb-making materials, schematics and extensive notes detailing Yener’s desire to commit acts of violence, as he was convinced that the United States would soon crumble.
An informant contacted Yener in June 2024, and the two discussed his desire to “join an anti-government militia and to construct an improvised explosive device.”
He allegedly told the informant that he attempted to join white nationalist groups such as the Boogaloo Boys and the Proud Boys, but was turned down because of his desire for self-martyrdom, and that he had declined an offer to join ISIS several years before.
The informant recruited Yener to a fake militia run by law enforcement, and the two worked on a plan to bomb the New York Stock Exchange together. The plot involved setting the device off during Thanksgiving week in an attempt to “reboot” the U.S. government, the informant testified.
Yener was arrested in late 2024 and spent nearly two years in Miami Federal Detention Center while the case progressed.
John Kiriakou, a former CIA agent best known as a whistleblower on federal agents’ torture of detainees, was one of the defense team’s star witnesses.
Federal public defenders Abigail Emily Becker and Victor Van Dyke argued that prosecutors mischaracterized Yener’s state of mind, and described his conversations with informants and agents as “rambling,” rather than the calculated strategizing of someone who would truly be a threat.
After nine days of testimony, the jury unanimously found him not guilty. He has been released from custody.
