ISISThree New Yorkers charged for attempting to join ISIS in Syria
Three New Yorkers were arrested yesterday on terrorism charges after they attempted to join Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria, federal authorities said. Two of the men are Uzbek citizens, and one is a Kazakh. The three men also had domestic terror plans, which included plots to kill FBI agents, plant a bomb at Coney Island, and kill President Obama — “if ordered by ISIS.” Documents filed in court provide a detailed account of the logistics involved in recruitment into ISIS, showing the young men grappling with how to evade law enforcement, sneak across borders, and communicate from afar with members of the Islamic State.
Three New Yorkers were arrested yesterday on terrorism charges after they attempted to join Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria, federal authorities said.
Two of the men charged, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, and Abror Habibov, 30, are Uzbek citizens; the other is a 19-year-old Kazakh citizen, Akhror Saidakhmetov. The three are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS.
Police commissioner Bill Bratton, in a press conference Wednesday afternoon, said ISIS had recently emerged as “a new, significant addition to the terrorism threat” of potential attacks within the United States, and through “their ability through their social media skills to inspire, as these individuals were inspired, to travel to Syria to fight.”
“But for those who cannot travel,” he said, “who don’t have the resources, they encourage … attacks wherever you live, whether it’s here in the United States or in Europe. If you can’t get a gun or a bomb, get a knife.”
The New York Times reports that anonymous officials said the three men’s domestic plans included plots to kill FBI agents, plant a bomb at Coney Island, and kill President Obama — “if ordered by ISIS.”
The charges against the three men were announced by the FBI, the New York police department, and the U.S. attorney Loretta Lynch, who is no being considered by the Senate for U.S attorney general.
“The flow of foreign fighters to Syria represents an evolving threat to our country and our allies,” said Lynch. “We will vigorously prosecute those who attempt to travel to Syria to wage violent jihad on behalf of [ISIS], and those who support them.
“Anyone who threatens our citizens and our allies, here or abroad, will face the full force of American justice.”
Federal authorities began monitoring the men online in summer 2014, after they expressed support “for the establishment by force of an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria,” according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Juraboev and Saidakhmetov were the first to come to the attention of law enforcement. Both had planned to travel through Turkey to Syria to join ISIS.
Saidakhmetov was arrested at Kennedy airport on Wednesday morning, as he was attempting to board a flight to Istanbul. Juraboev purchased a plane ticket for Turkey scheduled to leave on 29 March. Habibov allegedly operated a “domestic support network” that funded Saidakhmetov’s efforts to join ISIS.
Habibov appeared in court in Jacksonville, Florida on Wednesday, and Juraboev and Saidakhmetov appeared in court in Brooklyn. All three were ordered to be held without bail.
The arrest of the three men, coming only days after British authorities they were looking for three teenage girls who left their homes and are suspected of traveling to Syria to join ISIS, heightened concerns about the reach and recruitment efforts of ISIS.
Earlier on Wednesday, before the arrests were announced, FBI director James Comey said the threat posed by sympathizers of the Islamic State, was escalating.
“I have homegrown violent extremist investigations in every single state,” Comey said in a speech at a meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General.
The Islamic State, he said, “is putting out a siren song through their slick propaganda through social media that goes like this: ‘Troubled soul, come to the caliphate, you will live a life of glory, these are the apocalyptic end times, you will find a life of meaning here fighting for our so-called caliphate, and if you can’t come, kill somebody where you are.’ ”
The Times notes that the documents filed in court provide a detailed account of the logistics involved in recruitment into ISIS, showing the young men grappling with how to evade law enforcement, sneak across borders, and communicate from afar with members of the Islamic State.
Diego Rodriguez, chief of the FBI’s New York division, appealed to members of the community and religious leaders to come forward if they fear someone is being radicalized. In a statement, he said the defendants violated their faith “in pursuit of their radical, violent agenda.”
