We honeypot criminals-in-the-making under the assumption that if the "good guys" can get the person to prepare for violence resulting in death, the "bad guys" can too. Whether the honeypot is too sweet or unreasonably sticky is an excellent matter for discussion in a court of law (but it's probably worth noting, as a pulse check, that more than 99.9% of the population isn't even in the market for C-4 of any kind, let alone for terroristic ends).
To make it more clear: trying to hack a computer system does not change that system. Trying to convince a person to carry out an attack (via social pressure, provision of materiel, planning, etc.) definitely changes that person.
I mean really, the more I think about this the more ridiculous it gets. Imagine coming up with an online persona to try to seduce your significant other with all your personal knowledge about them, as a form of penetration testing. We rightly view people who do this as being very controlling & insecure - not normal or justifiable behavior at all, and it materially changes your relationship with them regardless of how it turns out!