American Hunting Osama Bin Laden Was Intent on Avenging 9/11

June 15, 2010 -- The American arrested in Pakistan who was on a solo mission to hunt down Osama bin Laden told police he was intent on avenging the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Authorities said Gary Brooks Faulkner, a construction worker who lived in Greeley, Colo., was arrested attempting to cross into Afghanistan in the mountainous region of northern Pakistan. He was armed with a pistol, sword, night vision goggles, a map and was reportedly carrying Christian literature.

Police arrested Faulkner, 50, in a hotel near the Afghanistan border. Police said that when he was arrested, Faulkner claimed he was going to take revenge for al Qaeda's terror attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

Faulkner's brother-in-law John Martin told ABC News that Faulkner talked openly with the family about his plans to hunt down the al Qaeda leader.

"He's a very deeply religious individual, very patriotic," Martin said. "It seemed to be his thing. He thought it should be done and he thought he could accomplish it."

Osama bin Laden has evaded one of the largest international manhunts in history and remains on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

Martin said Faulkner was not trained in anyway for a seek and destroy mission and had no military training, though he had been to the region before. Faulkner's brother Scott said he was trained in martial arts and a sword and dagger were his "weapons of choice."

Faulkner also has an arrest record and spent time in Colorado prisons, according to public records.

Family: Faulkner is Not Crazy, Maybe Non-Traditional

"We initially laughed when he told us he wanted to kill Osama bin Laden," said one official, Mumtaz Ahmad Khan, according to The Associated Press.

While going on such a mission in hostile territory alone and with no training to find the most wanted man on the planet may have seemed ridiculous to many, Faulkner's brother said he had made several trips to the area to reconnoiter bin Laden's possible location -- and believed he had found the cave where the al Qaeda leader was hiding.

Scott Faulkner said his brother had "stood at its entrance, possibly within 100 feet" of where he believe his target was living.

If his brother's mission failed and even if he died trying, Scott Faulkner said his brother would "love" the media attention.

"It's waking America back up... The fact that it's bringing it back in the forefront of the American psyche, now there's hopefully going to be a renewed effort to get this guy," Scott Faulkner said.

While he was likely aware of the hefty $25 million reward for information leading to Bin Laden's arrest, Martin said the cause was more important.

"The inspiration was more important to him than the money," he said.

Scott Faulkner told CNN his brother is "highly intelligent" and "has not forgotten what Osama has done to this country."

"I think probably every family member out there has a non-traditional family member," Martin said. "Ours is just maybe more newsworthy than some sometimes."

Faulkner may be fearless in his attempt to track down bin Laden, but his family is now worried about his health now that he is in custody. Faulkner suffers from a kidney disease that requires dialysis, Martin told ABC News. Martin said the family called the U.S. State Department to alert them to Faulkner's condition "to see if they could maybe interfere and make sure he at least lives through this."

The U.S. State Department confirmed Faulkner's arrest but declined to provide details.

"We're going to talk to him, try to figure out who he is, what brought him to Pakistan and we'll go from there," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

Already Facebook groups have popped up declaring Faulkner a hero and patriot -- a faked personal page features an action figure in the profile picture -- but Martin stopped short of agreeing.

"If he accomplished it, he damn sure would've been tagged that, wouldn't he?" he said.

ABC News' Kirit Radia contributed to this report.