Robert Hester Jr (above with his two young children) was arrested for plotting a terrorist attack on Kansas City, Missouri

A married army veteran has been arrested for plotting an ISIS style attack on Kansas City.

Robert Lorenzo Hester Jr., 25, from Columbia, Missouri, was taken into custody on Friday after meeting up with undercover FBI agents posing as terrorists who he'd been speaking to for months.

They began watching him in August 2016 after being tipped off to social media accounts in which he described his hatred of the US and how he'd converted to Islam.

He had allegedly agreed to supply weapons and help organize a Presidents' Day terror attack at bus and train stations across Kansas City.

Hester, who has two young children, told them how he wanted to 'overthrow' the US and 'hit it hard', the Justice Department said.

Police say that for months he exchanged text messages with agents describing how he wanted to start 'global jihad' and put together an attack '10 times' as deadly as the Boston marathon bombings.

On one occasion he had one of the agents round to his family home in Columbia, Missouri, where he gave him a bag full of materials to build a bomb, authorities said.

They also showed him rifles in the backs of their cars which they said they were planning to use in the attacks.

He was arrested on Friday afternoon after months of interaction with the undercover agents who said they honed in on him after being alerted to his Facebook posts by an informant.

The 25-year-old (left in a social media picture and right in a mugshot) said he wanted to 'overthrow' the US, according to authorities

Under four different Facebook names, he is said to have described his hatred of the US and how it should be 'overthrown'.

The father-of-two was arrested in October for throwing a knife through a store window during a rage-fueled fight with his wife.

Hester has several spiritual tattoos including a crucifix and the Eye of Providence which symbolizes the all-seeing eye of God

During the incident, he reached for a 9mm gun he was carrying in one of his children's diaper bags. He spent ten days in custody for the incident but was released on bond and told to wear an electric ankle tag.

Agents say the former soldier, who spent a year in the armed services before being discharged without incident in 2013, had already added the FBI agent on Facebook.

When he was released from jail, the pair began communicating over the site's messaging service and in encrypted text messages.

'Hester presented himself as a security threat, stating, for example, that the U.S. government should be “overthrown,” and suggesting “hitting” the government “hard,” while noting that it would not be “a one man job,"' a Justice Department release about his arrest said.

'Hester identified categories of potential targets for attack and said he wanted a “global jihad.” Hester stated that he was trying to find like-minded people to help. When the undercover employee mentioned “brothers,” Hester said he wanted to meet them.'

In January, the undercover agent claims to have told him to buy 9-volt batteries, duct tape, copper wire and roofing nails to make a bomb.

He also asked him to buy ammunition but the veteran said he would not be able to because of his criminal record.

Hester was thrown out of the military in mid-2013 for violating regulations during combat training

The suspect used several aliases on Facebook to share his hatred of the US and devotion to Islam

He allegedly told them he'd pay for a friend to purchase them once he received his tax return.

He shared photographs of his gun in the past

The FBI agent told him of his plans to kill 'a lot of people' at a Kansas City Presidents' Day attack.

According to the Justice Department, the agent told Hester he didn't have to take part but he allegedly responded: 'I'm down'.

Later, he told him he 'couldn't wait' for the attack and that it was 'time they pay for their atrocities'.

On February 17, he brought two more boxes of roofing nails to a meeting with the FBI agent at a storage facility. He was arrested moments later.

In social media posts seen by DailyMail.com, the father-of-two uploaded photographs of his gun and described being a 'true Muslim'.

He condemned the FBI, telling it to 'burn in hell', and described himself as a 'soldier of Allah'.

'Three things I will fight for Allah Islam and my family everything else is irrelevant,' he said in one post last year.

It's not clear how Hester has sustained a living since he was discharged from the military in 2013 or when he got married.

Hester was arrested in October for an unrelated incident during which he threw a knife through a store window while fighting with his wife. He spent ten days behind bars for the incident

Hester has been married to his wife Omni since 2012. The pair have two young daughters together

Officials told The Kansas City Star he'd been thrown out during combat training for violating regulations.

There has been no public comment from his wife Omni. The pair married in 2012 and have two daughters together.

Officials praised the FBI for its investigation on Tuesday as they warned that the threat of terrorism 'knows no demographic'.

'First on social media, then during face-to-face meetings with an undercover FBI employee, this defendant repeatedly expressed his intent to engage in acts of violent jihad against the United States,' said U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickson.

'He believed he was part of an ISIS-sponsored terrorist attack that would result in the deaths and injuries of many innocent victims.

'He readily participated in the preparations for an attack, provided materials and resources for an attack and voiced his intent to carry out an attack. I commend the FBI for protecting the public from a security threat.'

Special Agent in Charge Eric Jackson from the FBI's Kansas City Field Office added: 'Terrorism knows no demographic boundaries and remains the FBI’s top priority.'