OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (WSAU) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced the arrest of an Afghani migrant who was planning a terrorist attack on the U.S. that was set to occur on Election Day.
A press release from the Bureau stated that Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, who was living in Oklahoma City and had entered the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021 on a special immigrant visa, had been hoarding automatic weapons and was in the process of selling off his family’s possessions to be ready to attack “large crowds” of voters on Election Day.
The release further detailed how Tawhedi confessed to authorities that he and his alleged juvenile co-conspirator planned to die in the attack as Islamic martyrs, which is common practice among terrorist organizations such as Hamas and ISIS. In a video that was obtained by authorities after conducting a raid on his home, Tawhedi was seen reading a text to a pair of children that described the rewards he would receive in the afterlife for carrying out the attack, and his phone contained text messages from an unnamed individual with ties to training and recruiting ISIS members to carry out attacks.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland spoke of the arrest in a release that stated Tawhedi “conspired and attempted to provide material support to ISIS and obtained firearms and ammunition to conduct a violent attack on U.S. soil in the name of ISIS. As part of the plot, the defendant allegedly took steps to liquidate his family’s assets, resettle members of his family overseas, acquire AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition, and commit a terrorist attack in the United States.”
“As charged, the Justice Department foiled the defendant’s plot to acquire semi-automatic weapons and commit a violent attack in the name of ISIS on U.S. soil on Election Day. We will continue to combat the ongoing threat that ISIS and its supporters pose to America’s national security, and we will identify, investigate, and prosecute the individuals who seek to terrorize the American people. I am deeply grateful to the public servants of the FBI, National Security Division, and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma for their work to disrupt this attack and for the work they do every day to protect our country.”
Tawhedi was charged with receiving a firearm to be used in a felony or federal act of terrorism, which includes a maximum prison penalty of 15 years. If found guilty of conspiring and attempting to offer material assistance to ISIS, he could receive an additional maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
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