An Afghan man was arrested in the United States after allegedly planning a terrorist attack that would have been carried out on Election Day.
An Afghan national has been arrested for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired Election Day terrorist attack https://t.co/U1frPHZYYe pic.twitter.com/VLKdrp2q6F
— Karen Lisa Foxx (@KarenFoxx170467) October 9, 2024
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi on October 7th in Oklahoma. Federal prosecutors accused Tawhedi of planning a terrorist attack in support of the Islamic State (IS). Tawhedi remains in custody but did not enter a plea.
A federal complaint revealed that Tawhedi and unnamed co-conspirators, including a juvenile revealed to be Tawhedi’s brother-in-law, followed the IS and took actions to try and carry out their attack in the United States, including by trying to sell their family home, planning to relocate their families abroad, and purchasing firearms and ammunition.
"Their ultimate aim was to stage a violent attack in the United States in the name of and on behalf of ISIS," prosecutors wrote.
Tawhedi traveled to the United States in September 2021, just days after the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, and the criminal complaint against him said he is "currently on parole status pending adjudication of his immigration proceedings."
The complaint also said the suspect came to the United States under a Special Immigrant Visa, available to anyone who worked with the US armed forces or was under chief of mission authority as a translator or interpreter in Iraq or Afghanistan.
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) clarified he did not have an Afghan SIV and was paroled into the United States, like most Afghan evacuees, and was allowed to live in the country temporarily.
We can thank Biden Harris for this. This is just the beginning.
— LoveDemocratTears (@MilitaryVet01) October 10, 2024
The FBI also accessed electronic records, which showed that Tawhedi allegedly viewed IS propaganda material and even contributed about $540 in cryptocurrency to a charity in Syria "which fronts for and funnels money to ISIS."
Tawhedi told investigators during an interrogation that they purchased weapons, which were two AK-47s he and his brother-in-law received before his arrest, to carry out attacks on Election Day and target large gatherings of people, during which they "expected to be martyred.”
Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, said he was "proud of the men and women of the FBI who uncovered and stopped the plot before anyone was harmed."
Let's take a stab and understand the man was radicalized BEFORE he arrived here, and realize that State could not possibly have vetted most (if not all) of the Afghanis Biden/Harris relocated here, as Afghanistan doesn't have resources / infrastructure that would allow it
— ItsJustMe (@ItsJustMe44) October 10, 2024
Merrick Garland, the United States Attorney General, said, "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."
Tawhedi’s legal team did not immediately respond to requests for comment on charges against him.
