Man Arrested For Attempting To BOMB Target Stores So He Could Buy Cheap Stock

Man Tries To Blow Up Target To Buy Cheap Stock

48-year-old Mark Charles Barnett was arrested on Thursday on charges of making explosive devices, hiring a man to plant them, and attempting to blow up Target stores. His motive? He hoped that bombing the stores would bring down their stock prices so that he could buy a large quantity of shares when prices were low and would become rich once the stock prices returned to their normal value.

From WHSVnews:

A Florida man is accused in a plot to blow up several Target stores along the East Coast in an attempt to acquire cheap stock if the company’s stock value plunged after the explosions.

Mark Charles Barnett, 48, was charged in a criminal complaint filed Thursday with possession of a firearm affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office in Florida’s middle district. Barnett, a registered sex offender in Florida, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

A team of federal, state and local officials arrested Barnett Tuesday in a parking lot in Ocala. He was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he’s still being held. Jail records don’t say whether he’s hired a lawyer.

According to an affidavit, Barnett offered to pay another man $10,000 to place at least 10 “improvised explosive bombs” disguised in food-item packaging on store shelves from New York to Florida.

The criminal complaint said Barnett delivered the items to the other man on Feb. 9. He also provided a bag of gloves, a mask and a license plate cover.

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