The Hill News

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee this week warned that the man arrested on Wednesday for plotting to blow up the Capitol and the Pentagon represented a type of homegrown, "lone wolf" threat to security that the U.S. needs to guard against.

"It means [terrorists are] probably less sophisticated, or less well trained; on the other hand, they're living under the radar screen, we have no way of knowing who they are,” Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) told a New York local CBS affiliate on Wednesday night.

King, who said he'd been briefed on the FBI investigation over the past several months, commended the agency for an "outstanding" work and arrest of Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, who has also been charged with attempting to aid the terrorist organization al Qaeda.

“The fact that Ferdaus is a very well-educated physicist should serve as a reminder to us that the threat of Islamic terrorism transcends socioeconomics and does not only emana! te from the poor and under-privileged," King said in a statement released Wednesday after Ferdaus's arrest. "Ferdaus’ arrest also underscores the need to continue efforts to combat domestic radicalization and the evolving threat of ‘lone wolf’ extremists.”

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