Illinois teen held over alleged Hindu temple attack plot

Police in Illinois have arrested 19-year-old Alexandros Paporakis, a Taco Bell cashier from Palatine, over an alleged plot to carry out a mass shooting at a Hindu temple.

Paporakis faces felony charges of making a terrorist threat and unlawful possession of a weapon, according to prosecutors. A judge ordered on Wednesday that he be held in jail before trial, Al Jazeera reported.

Prosecutors said Paporakis openly described himself to work colleagues as a white supremacist. They said he told colleagues he "couldn't wait" to kill Indian people.

Investigators believe he planned to attack the largest Hindu temple in Aurora, about 40 miles southwest of Palatine. Police said the specific intended location has not been confirmed and remains under investigation.

According to prosecutors, Paporakis allegedly told colleagues that Sunday would be "a special day". He then allegedly telephoned a coworker on Sunday afternoon saying his gun had jammed and that he had left "super fast" without being seen.

He allegedly sent a video of the rifle failing to fire and said he wanted to try again once it was repaired. Two co-workers called police, after which officers from Palatine and Mount Prospect arrested Paporakis as he left his home.

Prosecutors said he allegedly sent a co-worker an eight-page document titled "Why I fought: A.K.A. (Aurora Shooter's Manifesto)". The document allegedly described Indian, Jewish and Black people as "subhumans" and set out a plan to kill as many of them as possible.

A search of his home found an AR-style rifle without a serial number, loaded magazines, a gas canister labelled with a slur aimed at South Asians, and items bearing Nazi symbolism. Prosecutors said Paporakis wrote that he had been planning the attack for two years and had researched his target using YouTube and Google Street View.