An Afghan man, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, and his underage confederate have been arrested in Oklahoma for allegedly planning an election day “terrorist assault,” the US Division of Justice mentioned on Tuesday.
Tawhedi is a resident of Oklahoma Metropolis since getting into the US from Afghanistan on a particular immigrant visa.
They have been each arrested on Monday after making an attempt to buy two AK-47 rifles and ammunition from undercover FBI brokers.
In accordance with the indictment, Tawhedi searched on-line for tactics to entry cameras in Washington, DC, and researched states the place firearms could possibly be obtained and not using a license. He additionally considered dwell feeds from the White Home and Washington Monument webcams.
Tawhedi mentioned that the assault was within the title of Islamic state. In addition they deliberate an assault on massive public gatherings, throughout which each he and his confederate supposed to die as martyrs.
“We are going to proceed to fight the continuing menace that ISIS and its supporters pose to America’s nationwide safety, and we are going to establish, examine, and prosecute the people who search to terrorise the American individuals,” US Lawyer Common Merrick Garland mentioned in a press release.
In a “homeland menace evaluation” launched final week, the Division of Homeland Safety warned that the US menace stage is anticipated to stay elevated within the coming yr, citing components such because the 2024 election cycle and Israel’s battle in Gaza.
“Lone offenders and small teams proceed to pose the best menace. In the meantime, overseas terrorist organisations, together with the Islamic State and al Qaeda keep their enduring intent to conduct or encourage assaults within the Homeland,” the division mentioned in an evaluation launched on Oct. 2.
The Islamic State militant group, pushed by its radical interpretation of faith, killed and executed 1000’s of individuals earlier than being territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019.
