FBI arrests ISIS supporter who desired to carry out a 9/11-style attack in US
The FBI has arrested an Islamic State supporter who has reportedly expressed a desire to carry out a 9/11-style attack on United States soil.
As indicated in a statement published by the U.S. Department of Justice Thursday, 28-year-old Anas Said faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 if convicted of providing material support to the Islamic State terrorist organization, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL.
In a memorandum Tuesday, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar Hamdani outlined why Said should remain in detention while he awaits trial.
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Hamdani believes Said constitutes a flight risk because he "has repeatedly expressed a desire to travel abroad to join ISIS and to travel back to Lebanon, has family overseas, and has a valid passport."
"The defendant has praised ISIS's use of violence and has expressed a desire to conduct violent attacks in the United States," the memo added.
The FBI's investigation of Said dates back to 2017 when the federal law enforcement agency received a tip that he had purchased two stickers that amounted to pro-ISIS propaganda.
Said assured federal agents during a series of interviews in 2018 that he did not support the killing by IS while acknowledging that he supported the terrorist organization's ideology and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East. In a follow-up interview in 2019, Said insisted he no longer supported IS.
In 2023, the social media platform Meta informed federal law enforcement of 11 Facebook accounts operated by the defendant, illustrating his continued support for the terrorist organization and attacks carried out on its behalf. In February, the FBI issued a search warrant where they found evidence of his efforts to distribute propaganda in support of IS. He was arrested last week.
In addition to creating multiple videos glorifying IS, Said revealed in a Facebook conversation with an FBI Online Covert Employee posing as a fellow IS sympathizer last year that he wanted to carry out a terrorist attack in the U.S.
"Brother, if I was living alone, you would have heard that I conducted an operation like 9/11. But my family is with me and I wouldn't want to put them in trouble."
In his comments, Said was referring to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, where radical Islamic terrorists hijacked airplanes and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Thousands of people were killed that day, including passengers of the ill-fated Flight 93 who successfully prevented the terrorists from carrying out an attack on a building in Washington, D.C. The 9/11 attacks led to the global War on Terror and forever changed American society.
"If I had weapons, I would have beaten the Jews and Americans in their backyards, but unfortunately, I am prohibited from purchasing a weapons license because of their suspicion of me. … I only brought a dagger," Said lamented in another Facebook post.
He also discussed with the undercover FBI employee his plans to offer his home as a guesthouse to IS sympathizers who wanted to kill former President George W. Bush, a resident of Texas like Said, and President Joe Biden.
Additional possible targets mentioned by Said in his conversation with the undercover agent included military recruiting stations near his home and Jewish organizations. According to the federal government, Said "further professed his desire to kill three hundred million souls, a number that roughly equates to the entire population of the United States."
In another interaction with the undercover agent, Said told him, "I wish I knew how to make an explosive belt." When asked where he would use such a belt, Said replied, "I would shave my beard and hair, put on a military uniform for camouflage, and go inside and push the button."
"Everything will turn into grilled meat," he added.
Said elaborated on a plan to enter a military training center to conduct a terror attack.
"I will look like them," he stated. "I'll change my appearance so as not to attract attention. I will wear a uniform. There are plenty on Amazon. It will work. It doesn't have to be inside but at the door when they leave. It will work."
A review of Said's laptop showed that he had downloaded documents containing instructions on "detonating remotely using mobile phone" and how to prepare the explosives C4, mercury fulminate, Tri-Acetone Tri-Peroxide, hexamethylene triperoxide diamine and TNT.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
