Neal Augenstein, wtop.com

BALTIMORE — A federal judge is considering whether a jury will hear about conversations between the man charged with plotting to blow up a Catonsville, Md. army recruiting center and an FBI informant who was setting him up.

Antonio Benjamin Martinez, who prefers to be called Muhammad Hussain, is indicted for the attempted murder of a federal official and the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

He was arrested immediately after trying to set-off an inert bomb on Dec. 8, 2010.

In a motions hearing, FBI agent Joseph Gallieta testified that Martinez told the informant he wanted to engage in jihad against an American military target “to bring the fight to them and kill them as they are killing Muslims around the world.”

Martinez converted to Islam shortly before his alleged involvement in the plot. The FBI learned of Martinez after a source noticed his Facebook postings.

According to reports detailing Martinez’s discussions and meetings with the source, Martinez said the source must “get used to blood” because they would see a lot once they “start slaughtering.”

The informant reported to the FBI that in October 2010 after prayers at a mosque, he and Martinez went to a Maryland pizza parlor where Martinez confessed to wanting “to wage violent jihad.”

After the meal while driving Martinez home, the informant said Martinez pointed out the Catonsville recruiting facility on Route 40 as “the one he wanted to hit.”

In earlier court filings, prosecutors said Martinez suspected he was being set up by the FBI, but he believed the explosive was real “when he smelled the fumes from the bomb.”

Martinez’s lawyers have argued the FBI’s failure to record all of his interactions with informants were intentional to shield investigators’ techniques from the court.

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