Mexican consulate steps up security

The Mexican consulate in St. Paul is stepping upsecurity after the Federal Bureau of Investigation foiled what it described as a 42-year old Minnesota man's alleged plot to attack the building with explosives.

"The consulate takes these threats very seriously, and appreciates the full support that we have received from the outset, both from local and federal law authorities," Mexican consul Ana Luisa Fajer said Friday. "In order to safeguard our visitors, staff and the premesis, our security protocols have been reinforced. Definitely."

Joseph Benjamin Thomas is facing drug charges in federal court, but an affadavit in the case says he planned to crash a truck laden with flammable liquids into the consulate and set it on fire. The FBI says Thomas told an undercover agent that he was hoping to spark racial unrest and that he supported white supremecism.

Thomas may also have been planning an attack on the May Day parade in Minneapolis.

He has not been charged with any crimes related to the plot against the consulate.

Fajer said that diplomats she doesn't consider the alleged attack a sign of wider ill will against them or Mexicans by Minnesotans in general.

"We know that the expressions of xenophobia and hate, the one that motivated this person and this alleged plotter are just a minority. An isolated voice," she said.