The U.S. Justice Division has arrested a person it stated was planning an election day assault within the identify of the Islamic State.
The suspect, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, is an Afghan citizen residing in Oklahoma Metropolis, Oklahoma, in response to prosecutors.
“This defendant allegedly conspired, facilitated by the Islamic State, to launch a violent assault on our homeland on Election Day,” FBI Director Christopher Wray stated in a press release Tuesday.
The FBI stated he was making an attempt to stockpile weapons and had taken steps to liquidate his household’s property and transfer members abroad.
Mr. Tawhedi was charged with offering, trying to offer, or conspiring to offer assist or assets to a overseas terrorist group; and trying to acquire firearms and ammunition to be used within the fee of a felony or act of terrorism.
The FBI stated Mr. Tawidi labored with an unnamed co-conspirator, a teenage relative and an Afghan citizen. It accuses him of consuming Islamic State propaganda on-line and donating to charities used as fronts for the Islamic State, in response to Google information obtained by regulation enforcement.
“We’ll proceed to fight the continuing menace posed by the Islamic State and its supporters to U.S. nationwide safety, and we are going to determine, examine and prosecute people who search to terrorize the American individuals,” stated Legal professional Common Merrick Garland.
Authorities stated he sought an AK-47 assault rifle through the assault. On October 7, Mr. Tawhedi and co-conspirators met with people who had been truly buying weapons and ammunition for undercover FBI brokers. After the acquisition, they had been arrested.
In an interview after his arrest on Monday, the FBI stated Tawidi allegedly confirmed he deliberate to launch an assault on a “massive gathering” on Election Day. They allegedly deliberate to die through the assault.
Mr. Tawhedi, his spouse and younger kids arrived in the USA in September 2021 on a particular immigrant visa. He was residing in Oklahoma Metropolis on the time of his arrest.
It was unclear whether or not he had authorized illustration.
