Presumed terror suspect arrested in Warwick

By News Staff
Reporting by Samantha Lavien
slavien@abc6.com

A spokesperson for the FBI in Boston has confirmed that a man who was under investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Warwick was taken into custody Thursday night.

Presumed terror suspect, Nicholas Rovinski, was arrested without incident at his home on Aspinet Drive at approximately 8:16 p.m.

A neighbor witnessed Rovinski’s arrested, saying several undercover cars entered into the quiet neighborhood just after 8 p.m.

“I basically just saw a few cops go around the back with bulletproof vests on,” said Jacob Waterman, a neighbor. He tells ABC6 News that the arrest happened within about five minutes.

State Police and the FBI have been investigating Rovinski’s home since June 2nd when they searched the home and removed numerous boxes. This happened on the same day that Boston terror suspect Usaama Rahim was shot and killed after a confrontation with police.

Court papers have revealed that Rahim, and David Wright, of Everett, Massachusetts, met with a third, unspecified person on a Rhode Island beach on May 31st—close to Rovinski’s home. The FBI has not confirmed whether Rovinski is that third individual mentioned in the affidavit, which also reveals Rahim’s plan to behead Boston Police Officers.

“He just seemed like a really good kid and he was.”

A neighbor, who didn’t want to go on camera, says he grew up with Rovinski. He tells ABC6 that Rovinski recently converted to Islam and grew a beard.

Web searches show that Rovinski did subscribe to a radical Islamic YouTube channel, and that he liked several of the videos.

Neighbors do say that Rovinski was wearing jeans and a blue shirt at the time of the arrest.

At this hour FBI will not comment on the charges or whether the arrest is linked to the terror investigation in Boston.