Updated 5:37 p.m.

Amine El Khalifi was arrested and charged Friday with attempting to bomb the U.S. Capitol in what he allegedly intended to be was a terrorism operation, according to a press release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was monitored and taken into custody as part of a FBI undercover operation.

According to the press release, the 29-year-old illegal immigrant from Morocco had been living in Alexandria, Va. and was charged with "attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against property that is owned and used by the United States."

The weapons in his possession had been made "inoperable" by law enforcement agents and "posed no threat" to the public according to the news release.

“El Khalifi allegedly believed he was working with al Qaeda and devised the plot, the targets, and the methods on his own," said U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride in a prepared statement.

El Khalifi reportedly made several scouting visits to the U.S. Capitol to plan his attack and had on at least one occasion detonated an explosive in a test for a man he believed to have been an al Qaeda operative.

“This individual allegedly followed a twisted, radical ideology that is not representative of the Muslim community in the United States,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge James McJunkin.

If convicted, El Khalifi faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Earlier Post:

Federal agents arrested a man Friday for allegedly planning a suicide attack on the U.S. Capitol building, according to The Washington Post.

The man, described as being in his 30s and of Moroccan-descent, was stopped by the Department of Labor building on his way to the Capitol, the Post reports.

By late afternoon Friday, authorities were conducting interviews at a home in Arlington, according to Arlnow.

ACPD spokesman Dustin Sternbeck confirms this is an “offshoot” related to today’s arrest of a Moroccan man by the FBI. 

According to The Hill newspaper, U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said in a prepared statement that her agency was "intimately involved in the investigation for the duration of the operation. At no time was the public or Congressional community in any danger."

The man had in his possession a vest filled with inactive explosives, reportedly supplied to him by undercover Federal agents, according to the Post.

Capitol police with a bomb-sniffing dog were stationed outside of the Cannon Office building just after 1 p.m. Friday. Even as Fox News first broke the story, traffic flowed normally around the Capitol building as tourists and staffers enjoyed the unseasonably warm afternoon.