“To make a change, you have to sacrifice people.”
According to the affidavit in the attempted bombing case, those are words spoken by Sami Samir Hassoun as he evolved his plans to attack sites around Chicago.  The words could have been more chilling but for the fact that Hassoun’s plans were scattered, grandiose and bumbling.

According to the affidavit, Hassoun talked about making money from attacking sites around Chicago either by being paid by supporters or by selling information about bombings to the media.  However, his focus seemed to be on Mayor Daley. Hassoun is quoted saying of they “F—ed Chicago more and more,” they could force the mayor’s resignation. By attacking multiple sites and exposing weaknesses in Mayor Daley’s security operations, FBI agents quote Hassoun saying they could, “take that Daley out and put some of our guys in.”  The entire plan seems to have missed Mayor Daley’s very public announcement on September 7th, that he would finish this term would not run for a 7th term as Mayor.

According to the affidavit, Hassoun planned to plant bombs, possibly just smoke bombs at the Daley center in Chicago, the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower.) He also talked about dumping a virus into Lake Michigan with the intent of tainting the city’s water supply.

Ultimately, undercover agents posing as a terrorist support network, told Hassoun he needed to think of a concrete plan, one he was capable of performing. The final plan was  to place a bomb in Wrigleyville which Hassoun describes on a videotape as “The heart of Clark [street]” where “all [the] young people, [the] hippest people” congregate.

On Saturday, September 18th undercover agents gave Hassoun a backpack with the bogus bomb inside. It was made of a paint can, lined with ball bearings and seven tubes bound by electrical tape intended to look like C-4 explosive.  Those were connected to blasting caps, a 9 volt battery, activation lights and a timer. The fake bomb was placed in a blue backpack, which the suspect put in a shopping bag and dropped into a trash can outside the famous Wrigleyville pub, “Slugger’s” just after midnight.

The pub-lined block was particularly busy because the Dave Mathews Band had a concert that evening in Wrigley field. Partiers and concert-goers barely noticed when black SUV’s swooped in and scooped Hassoun off the street.  The FBI repeatedly stated that the public was never in danger because the bomb was a fake.