The FBI arrested a California man Friday morning for allegedly attempting to bomb a bank in a convoluted gambit to start what he hoped would become a civil war in the U.S., NBC's Pete Williams reported.

Matthew Aaron Llaneza, the man arrested, allegedly targeted a Bank of America branch in Oakland.

Llaneza allegedly met with FBI agents posing as individuals connected to the Taliban in November, who built an inoperative bomb for the would-be terrorist.

"Llaneza's stated goal was to trigger a governmental crackdown, which he expected would trigger a right-wing counter-response against the government followed by, he hoped, civil war," the Justice Department told NBC.

Llaneza allegedly parked the "bomb" under an overhang at the bank and attempted to detonate it using two cell phones he had bought. When the inoperative bomb failed to go off, Llaneza was arrested.

Read the full NBC report here >