Cops foil Okla. church bomb plot

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MIAMI, Okla., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- An Illinois man was arrested after allegedly hatching a bizarre plan to firebomb churches in Oklahoma, police said.

Gregory Weiler II, 23, of Elk Grove Village, Ill., posted a rambling message on his Facebook page about religion and free speech, then set off from the Chicago suburb to Oklahoma with more than 50 Molotov cocktails in his possession, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Police arrested Weiler in a motel in rural Miami, Okla., Thursday after a maintenance worker at the motel spotted materials used to make the bombs in a Dumpster and called authorities. Investigators said Weiler had enough fire bombs to wipe out every church in town had he not been stopped.

Weiler was charged with two counts of plotting a terrorist act and is being held in Ottawa County Jail without bail. Weiler had no apparent connection with the tiny town, but had information about the location of all the churches and even details about how many people were likely inside and when, the newspaper reported.

"Every church we have in town, Weiler planned on blowing up every single one," Miami Police Chief George Haralson said. "We could have potentially had a major incident on our hands."