Federal prosecutors have accused a 27-year-old Afghan citizen of conspiring with ISIS and stockpiling weapons to launch an Election Day assault within the US.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi of Oklahoma Metropolis, Oklahoma was allegedly planning to liquidate his household’s property and promote his household’s dwelling, resettle members of the family abroad, and purchase up AK-47 rifles and ammunition “to stage a violent assault in america within the title of and on behalf of ISIS,” based on court docket paperwork unsealed on Tuesday.
In response to a prison criticism, Tawhedi and a co-conspirator, who’s a minor, met with an FBI informant in Oklahoma to purchase two AK-47s, 10 magazines and 500 rounds of ammunition.
They had been then arrested on October 7.
In communications reviewed by FBI brokers and hooked up within the prison criticism, Tawhedi allegedly stated he deliberate for an Election Day assault, then informed brokers after his arrest that the assault was designed to focus on giant gatherings of individuals, throughout which he and his co-conspirator had been anticipated to die as martyrs.
Earlier than his arrest, Tawhedi — who entered the US on a particular immigrant visa in 2021— had seen ISIS propaganda and despatched cash to a corporation that “fronts for and funnels cash to ISIS,” based on prosecutors.
He additionally carried out Google searches for “how one can entry washington dc cameras” and state-level gun restrictions, together with which states have open-carry legal guidelines, based on the affidavit.
Tawhedi additionally purchased one-way airfare for his spouse and baby to Kabul.
He was charged with conspiring and trying to offer materials help to ISIS, which carries a most jail sentence of 20 years, and receiving a firearm for use to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism, which carries a most jail sentence of 15 years, if convicted.
“As charged, the Justice Division foiled the defendant’s plot to accumulate semi-automatic weapons and commit a violent assault within the title of ISIS on US soil on Election Day,” Legal professional Normal Merrick Garland stated in an announcement.
“We’ll proceed to fight the continuing menace that ISIS and its supporters pose to America’s nationwide safety, and we are going to determine, examine, and prosecute the people who search to terrorize the American folks,” he added.
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