An Afghan national allowed into the US shortly after the Harris-Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan was charged Tuesday with plotting an ISIS-inspired Election Day terror attack.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was living in Oklahoma City on a Special Immigrant Visa as he took steps to stockpile AK-47 rifles and ammunition to carry out an attack on US soil “in the name of ISIS,” according to the Justice Department.
He entered the US on Sept. 9, 2021, just weeks after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan and the last US troops departed from the war-torn nation.
Along with gathering firearms, Tawhedi allegedly prepared for his attack by making moves to liquidate his family’s assets and resettle family members overseas, according to the DOJ.
The criminal complaint against Tawhedi notes that the FBI discovered “ISIS propaganda on his iCloud and Google account” and a video recorded on Tawhedi’s phone of him telling two children about “the rewards a martyr receives in the afterlife.”
A photo of man wearing a suicide bomber vest, an image of the Sept. 11, 2021, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and a portrait of ISIS big Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi were among the disturbing images allegedly found on Tawhedi’s phone.
The FBI also found evidence that Tawhedi participated in ISIS-aligned Telegram groups and that he donated at least $540 in cryptocurrency to a Syria-based “charity which fronts for and funnels money to ISIS.”
“This defendant, motivated by ISIS, allegedly conspired to commit a violent attack, on Election Day, here on our homeland,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “I am proud of the men and women of the FBI who uncovered and stopped the plot before anyone was harmed.”
“Terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority, and we will use every resource to protect the American people,” he added.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said his department “foiled” Tawhedi’s alleged “plot to acquire semi-automatic weapons and commit a violent attack in the name of ISIS on US 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,” Garland said in a statement. “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 conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
He faces up to 20 years in prison.