OP bomb plot suspect not competent to stand trial

The Orange Park man accused of planning a bombing on a 9/11 commemoration event is not competent to stand trial at this time.

In federal court today, a judge ordered 20-year-old Joshua Goldberg to undergo further testing, which will include attempting to determine whether Goldberg was sane at the time he allegedly communicated online with a man to coordinate the bombing.

Goldberg has spent the last several weeks undergoing a competency evaluation in South Florida, and a forensic psychologist told the court she did not believe he was capable of moving forward with any legal proceedings. Our partner Action News Jax was in the courtroom for the proceedings today, and they report the psychologist says Goldberg has a distorted sense of reality, exhibits child-like behavior, and has paranoid and suspicious ideas. The psychologist says Goldberg likely has schizophrenia, and has been placed on several medications.

If Goldberg is ever deemed competent to move forward, his attorney has filed notice that he would seek an insanity defense.

Goldberg is accused, in a criminal complaint, of urging a man online to plant a bomb at a 9/11 commemorative event in Missouri. Goldberg allegedly sent the man bomb making instructions- including information on how to make it especially damaging by including shrapnel dipped in rat poison- and tips on where to plant the bomb to avoid detection. According to the criminal complaint, Goldberg believed the man would accidentally blow himself up during construction of the bomb. If he did not, the criminal complaint says Goldberg intended to call police, making himself the hero.

Goldberg didn’t speak today, but did wave to his parents, who were sitting in the courtroom.