FBI arrests an Afghan man who officers say deliberate Election Day assault : NPR

WASHINGTON — The FBI has arrested an Afghan man who officers say was impressed by the Islamic State militant group and was plotting an Election Day assault concentrating on giant crowds within the U.S., the Justice Division mentioned Tuesday.

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma Metropolis advised investigators after his arrest Monday that he had deliberate his assault to coincide with Election Day subsequent month and that he and a co-conspirator anticipated to die as martyrs, based on charging paperwork.

Tawhedi, who arrived within the U.S. in 2021, had taken steps in current weeks to advance his assault plans, together with by ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his household’s belongings and shopping for one-way tickets for his spouse and youngster to journey house to Afghanistan.

The arrest comes because the FBI confronts heightened issues over the opportunity of extremist violence on U.S. soil, with Director Christopher Wray telling The Related Press in August that he was “hard pressed to think of a time in my career where so many different kinds of threats are all elevated at once.”

“Terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority, and we will use every resource to protect the American people,” Wray mentioned in an announcement Tuesday.

An FBI affidavit doesn’t reveal exactly how Tawhedi got here onto investigators’ radar, however cites what it says is proof from current months displaying his dedication in planning an assault. {A photograph} from July included within the affidavit depicts a person investigators recognized as Tawhedi studying to 2 younger youngsters, together with his daughter, “a text that describes the rewards a martyr receives in the afterlife.”

Officers say Tawhedi additionally consumed Islamic State propaganda, contributed to a charity that features as a entrance for the militant group and communicated with an individual who the FBI decided from a previous investigation was concerned in recruitment and indoctrination. He additionally seen webcams for the White Home and the Washington Monument in July.

Tawhedi’s alleged co-conspirator was not recognized by the Justice Division, which described him solely as a juvenile, a fellow Afghan nationwide and the brother of Tawhedi’s spouse.

After the 2 marketed the sale of private property on Fb final month, the FBI enlisted an informant to reply to the supply and strike up a relationship. The informant later invited them to a gun vary, the place they ordered weapons from an undercover FBI official.

Tawhedi was arrested Monday after taking possession of two AK-47 rifles and ammunition, officers mentioned. The unidentified co-conspirator was additionally arrested however the Justice Division didn’t present particulars as a result of he’s a juvenile.

After he was arrested, the Justice Division mentioned, Tawhedi advised investigators he had deliberate an assault for Election Day that might goal giant gatherings of individuals.

Tawhedi was charged with conspiring and trying to offer materials assist to the Islamic State, which is designated by the U.S. as a international terrorist group. The cost is punishable by as much as 20 years in jail.

It was not instantly clear if he had a lawyer who might converse on his behalf. A message was left with the federal public defender’s workplace in Oklahoma Metropolis and no phone numbers have been listed for Tawhedi or his kinfolk in public data.

Tawhedi entered the U.S. on a particular immigrant visa, a program that allows eligible Afghans who helped People regardless of nice private threat to themselves and their family members to use for entry into America with their households.

Eligible Afghans embody interpreters for the U.S. navy in addition to people integral to the American embassy in Kabul. Whereas this system has existed since 2009, the variety of candidates skyrocketed after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.