US teenager appears in court over alleged Hindu temple shooting plot
Alexandros Paporakis, 19, has appeared in court near Chicago after his arrest at the weekend.
**US teenager appears in court over alleged Hindu temple shooting plot**
A man has been taken into custody following an investigation into threats of a possible mass shooting that may have targeted a Hindu temple near Chicago.
Alexandros Paporakis, 19, of Palatine, Illinois, appeared in court on Wednesday. He was charged with one count of making a terrorist threat and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon for having a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16in, the BBC's US partner CBS reports.
Police said they discovered a manifesto in which Paporakis described himself as a white supremacist and wrote about his hatred of non-white people.
Prosecutors said the defendant told a colleague over the phone that his gun jammed and sent messages displaying an AR-style rifle, CBS reports.
According to prosecutors, other messages showed the gun failing to fire when he pulled the trigger, along with a photo of himself wearing a tactical vest.
That colleague and another coworker from the Taco Bell where Paporakis worked contacted police on Sunday to report the incident.
Palatine Police Chief William Nord said officers "recovered a rifle, they recovered loaded magazines, hundreds of rounds of rifle ammunition, as well as body armour," while searching Paporakis' home.
Officers and the FBI also reviewed Paporakis' electronics and electronic communications, where they said they found the manifesto.
"Reading through the manifesto, he did state some extremist ideologies and talked about violence, he talked about mass killings and how he wanted to carry out this mass shooting," Nord said, according to CBS.
Prosecutors allege that Paporakis' colleague told police the defendant had spoken about being a white supremacist at work and made insulting remarks about people of other races.
Prosecutors said that on Saturday, Paporakis told a worker he was planning "it" at a Hindu temple in Aurora, and said Sunday "was going to be a special day", before calling and sending the messages to his colleague the next day.
Police said a specific intended location in the alleged threats has not been confirmed, and the investigation is still open.
Local Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said he was "horrified" by the incident. In a statement posted on Facebook, he said: "Every American deserves to live and worship without fear, and we must stand together against hatred in all its forms."