Attorney says Harlem Suarez is 'not a terrorist'

Man, 23, accused of planning to bomb Key West beach

KEY WEST, Fla. ā€“ A man accused of plotting a terror attack in South Florida remains behind bars in Miami.

According to a criminal complaint, Harlem Suarez, 23, who is also known as Almlak Benitez, caught the attention of the FBI in April after posting extremist rhetoric and promoting the Islamic State group through posts on his Facebook page.

"I will say at this stage that it appears Harlem may be a troubled and confused young man, but he is certainly not a terrorist," Suarez's attorney, Richard Della Fera, said in a statement Wednesday. "He comes from a very good, hard-working family that arrived here from Cuba in 2004 because they yearned for freedom. They raised their son to love this country."

READ: Full complaint

Local 10 News has learned that FBI agents have been staying at a nearby motel and conducting surveillance of Suarez's Key West apartment, where he lives with his parents, for at least the last two months.

"I found out yesterday morning when I was reading the newspaper that they made the arrest, and I got to talk to some of the FBI agents," motel clerk Chris Cervantes said.

Neighbors said Suarez has lived at the apartment with his parents since 2004 and that he previously went to Key West High School. They said he was a quiet man who kept to himself.

Last spring, a Facebook user called the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to report seeing messages from an Islamic State group recruiter. FBI agents traced the posts to Suarez and said they found a trove of ISIS-related postings.

One post from April read: "Stand up with us my brother. Stand up with the black flag and the AK with 10 mag, fight with us, be a gangster with us, kill our enemies and convert to Islam now in USA."

The FBI put a confidential informant on the case. Agents said that over the last four months, Suarez plotted with that informant to make a "timer bomb," and planned to test his explosives in the garage under his parents' apartment.

According to the complaint, Suarez ordered AK-47s online that were to be delivered to a Key West pawnshop, where he intended to pick them up. Employees at the pawnshop also alerted the FBI.

The complaint said Suarez created an ISIS recruiting video inside a Homestead motel.

The script for the video, according to the complaint, was: "I call to other brothers worldwide to create Caliphate in the Middle East. Destroy our enemies against us. Let live only who are our brothers and sisters. Send our mujahideen to a different soil with tanks, missiles grenades and other tactical needs. America soil is the past, we will destroy America and divide it in two. We will raise our black flag on top of your white house and any president on duty (cut head)."

The complaint said Suarez had planned other attacks before deciding to bomb a Key West beach, including a Fourth of July attack in South Beach or in Marathon.

Investigators said Suarez later decided to bury the bomb at a public beach in Key West and detonate it using a cellphone. He met with an informant Monday at the motel and showed him the homemade bomb before being taken into custody, the complaint said.

The FBI said pawnshops and other weapon depots were warned about Suarez a month ago and agreed not to sell him weapons.

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About the Authors:

Glenna Milberg joined Local 10 News in September 1999 to report on South Florida's top stories and community issues. She also serves as co-host on Local 10's public affairs broadcast, "This Week in South Florida."

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.