Man threatened July 4th attack at parade in Cleveland

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP)-  Federal authorities say they’ve arrested a man who talked about setting off a bomb at a 4th of July parade in Cleveland and attacking people watching fireworks.

Authorities have charged Demetrius Pitts with attempted support of a terrorist organization. There are no court records listing an attorney for Pitts, who lives in the Cleveland area and was arrested Sunday.

Officials said Monday that Pitts, who is an American citizen, often expressed his support for Al-Qaida and said he wanted to kill members of the U.S. Military.

F.B.I. Special Agent Stephen Anthony said Pitts scouted out locations this past week for a site to attack in Downtown Cleveland. Anthony said it’s not clear how close Pitts was to carrying out his threats, but he said authorities couldn’t sit back and wait.