Man plotted to bomb Independence Day fireworks and threatened Donald Trump's life

Demetrius Pitts was arrested in July.

A man who plotted an Independence Day bomb attack also threatened the life of Donald Trump and his family.

Demetrius Pitts, 50, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, as well as threatening the US president's life.

The Ohio man faces a likely sentence of 14 years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release, officials said in announcing the conviction.

Pitts was arrested by FBI agents on July 1, 2018, after a series of meetings with an undercover agent and an informant.

He had discussed plans to set off a bomb at a July 4 celebration in a Cleveland park, authorities said.

Pitts chose the waterfront park as his target in part because it was near a US Coast Guard station, a US Army Corps of Engineers outpost and a downtown federal office building he also wanted to damage.

Pitts, a Philadelphia native who had expressed allegiance to al Qaeda, also discussed his intention to travel to his Pennsylvania hometown to conduct reconnaissance for a future truck bomb attack there, the FBI said.

The defendant previously served time in prison for a 1993 robbery in the Cincinnati area.

Pitts came under FBI scrutiny on the basis of a tip that led federal investigators to review his social media postings.

They determined that Pitts was "threatening violence against the United States," the agency said.

Sentencing is due to take place on February 11 next year.