A 24-year-old former Upper St. Clair man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for attempting to join the Hezbollah terror group.
Western District of PA Department of Justice attorney Eric Olshan announced Thursday that Jack Molloy faces charged of attempting to support a foreign terrorist organization and making false statements involving international terrorism to the United States.
Molloy reportedly traveled to Lebanon and Syria this past August and October with the goal of joining Hezbollah (also spelled Hizballah).
Molloy was told “the time was not right, and that he needed to take other steps before he could join the terrorist organization.”
When he returned to the United States, Molloy continued to try and join the group online from his residence in Upper St. Clair.
The Department of Justice says Molloy also “allegedly expressed his hatred toward, and promoted violence against, Jewish people.”
In an online exchange with a family member, Molloy said his “master plan was to join Hezbollah and kill Jews.”
The DOJ adds Molloy also allegedly “visited a website detailing the possible incarceration location of Robert Bowers, who carried out the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting.”
Molloy was arrested last month in Chicago and faces up to 20 years behind bars, a $250,000 fine or both.
“The FBI’s number one priority is to protect the American people from both domestic and international terrorist threats,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek. “To achieve that end, the FBI will leverage the entirety of our resources, partnerships, and all applicable laws to bring to justice anyone who seeks to support or aid any foreign terror organizations, especially groups as deadly as Hizballah.”