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 The two Chicago-area men, both U.S. citizens, spoke of using army
uniforms and military knowledge to get into an Illinois National
Guard facility, the department said in a statement.
"Disturbingly, one of the defendants currently wears the same
uniform of those they allegedly planned to attack," Assistant
Attorney General John Carlin said in the statement.
Army National Guard Specialist Hasan Edmonds, 22, was arrested at
Chicago Midway International Airport Wednesday night while
attempting to fly to Cairo, the Justice Department said. His cousin,
Jonas Edmonds, 29, was arrested at his Aurora, Illinois, home. Both
arrests were made without incident.
Both defendants met with an undercover Federal Bureau of
Investigation employee and presented a plan to carry out an armed
attack against a northern Illinois military facility where Hasan
Edmonds had been training, the Justice Department said.
 The plan was for Hasan Edmonds to join Islamic State fighters and
Jonas Edmonds to attack the installation, according to an affidavit
attached to the criminal complaint.
An undercover FBI employee sent a Facebook "friend" request in late
2014 to Hasan Edmonds, who replied in mid-January he was putting his
affairs in order and gathering money for a trip.
In later messages Hasan Edmonds said it was his duty to support the
Islamic State or be martyred trying and he did not intend to fulfill
his last three years in the National Guard, the affidavit said.
"I'd rather struggle and strive hard in the cause of Allah rather
than sit back and live a 'comfortable' life," Edmonds said in one
message.
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He said his cousin Jonas would seek martyrdom in the United States
if a criminal conviction in Georgia prevented him from traveling
abroad, the affidavit said.
Hasan and Jonas Edmonds met on Tuesday with an undercover FBI
employee and discussed buying weapons and methods of attack on a
drive to the installation, the affidavit said. Hasan Edmonds also
described the installation and rooms to avoid.
Hasan Edmonds enlisted in the Illinois National Guard in August
2011, said Lieutenant Colonel Brad Leighton. Edmonds reported to the
guard's Joliet base one weekend a month and annually did two weeks
of active duty training.
If convicted, Hasan and Jonas Edmonds face a maximum penalty of 15
years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir and Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Lisa
Lambert and Bill Trott)
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