WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department said Tuesday that the FBI has arrested an Afghan man it says was inspired by the Islamic State group and was planning an Election Day attack targeting large crowds in the United States. Announced.
According to the indictment, Nasir Ahmad Tawhidi, 27, of Oklahoma City, told law enforcement authorities after his arrest Monday that he planned the attack to coincide with next month’s Election Day and that he and his co-conspirators would be martyred. He said he expected to die as a man.
Mr. Tauhedi, who arrived in the United States in September 2021, has in recent weeks ordered an AK-47 rifle, liquidated his family’s assets, and purchased one-way tickets for his wife and children to return home, among other efforts to plan his attack. Measures were being taken to advance this. Afghan officials said.
The arrests come as the FBI faces growing concerns about the potential for extremist violence on U.S. soil, with Director Christopher Wray telling The Associated Press in August, “I can’t think of a time when there were so many different types of threats.” Everything rises at once. ”
“Terrorism remains the FBI’s top priority and we will utilize every resource to protect the American people,” Wray said in a statement Tuesday.
The FBI affidavit does not say exactly how Tawhidi came to the attention of law enforcement, but it cites evidence in recent months of his determination to plan the attack. A July photo included in the affidavit shows a man, whom investigators identified as Tauhedi, reading aloud to two young children, including his daughter, “a text that describes the rewards that martyrs receive in the afterlife.” is shown in the photo.
Officials said Tauhedi also consumed Islamic State propaganda and donated to charities that serve as fronts for the extremists, and that the FBI had previously investigated recruiting people with extremist interests. It is said that he was in contact with a person who he judged to be involved in indoctrination. In July, he also viewed the webcams of the White House and the Washington Monument.
Tawhidi’s alleged co-conspirator was not identified by the Justice Department, which described him only as a boy, a fellow Afghan national, and the brother of Tawhidi’s wife.
Last month, the FBI requested an informant to respond to the offer and establish a relationship after the two advertised on Facebook that they were selling personal property. The informant then invited them to a gun range, where they ordered weapons from an undercover FBI agent posing as the informant’s business partner, according to court documents.
Tauhedi was arrested Monday after being in possession of two ordered AK-47 rifles and ammunition, officials said. An unidentified co-conspirator was also arrested, but the Justice Department did not provide details because he was a juvenile.
The Justice Department said Tauhedi told investigators after his arrest that he was planning a polling day attack targeting a large gathering.
Tauhedi was charged with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State, which is designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. This crime carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
He appeared in court on Tuesday and was ordered held in custody. An email sent to an attorney purported to represent him, but an email seeking comment was not immediately returned.
It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
A for sale sign sat in the yard outside a modest two-story brick home believed to be connected to Tawedi’s family in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore.
A woman who identified herself as Tawhidi’s wife declined to discuss the incident.
“I don’t want to talk about it in the media,” said the woman, who did not want to give her name.
Tauhedi entered the United States on a special immigrant visa. The program allows eligible Afghans who have helped Americans despite great personal risk to themselves or loved ones to apply for admission to the United States with their families.
Eligible Afghans include U.S. military interpreters and individuals essential to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The program has been in existence since 2009, but the number of applicants skyrocketed after the turbulent US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Sean Vandiver, president of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of organizations dedicated to assisting Afghans attempting to leave Afghanistan, said that while the charges are serious, “we should not place responsibility on an entire community for the actions of one individual. is important,” he said. Thousands of Afghans resettled in the United States are working to build new lives and contribute to our common future. ”
“These are the same people who have stood alongside us in Afghanistan for more than 20 years, defending the values we hold dear,” he said in a statement. “Now they are our neighbors and we must support them as they seek safety and stability in their new homes.”
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Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana in Washington and Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.
