On Tuesday, the United States Department of Justice announced it was filing charges against an Afghanistan national in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, over allegations that planned to commit a terror attack on Election Day for ISIS.
According to a criminal complaint filed on Tuesday, 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi conspired and attempted to provide material support to ISIS by obtaining firearms and ammunition to conduct a “violent attack on US soil in the name of ISIS.”
The DOJ alleges that Tawhedi took steps to liquidate his family’s assets via Facebook Marketplace to help him with the attack as he looked to acquire AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition to carry out his terrorist attack. The DOJ also shared that he took steps to resettle members of his family overseas.
“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 US soil on Election Day,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a press release.
FBI Director Christopher Wray also shared a statement in the release, noting that stopping “terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority.”
“This defendant, motivated by ISIS, allegedly conspired to commit a violent attack, on Election Day, here on our homeland,” Wray said.
While investigating Tawhedi, the FBI searched his phone and obtained communications between him and a person who claimed to facilitate recruitment, training, and more for ISIS. On his iCloud and Google accounts, he also allegedly accessed, viewed, and saved ISIS propaganda.
Other allegations laid out by the DOJ say that he participated in pro-ISIS-Telegram groups and contributed to a charity, which is a front to funnel money to the terrorist group.
In the communication seized through Telegram, Tawhedi allegedly indicated that his attack was planned to occur on Election Day. After he was interviewed by the authorities he confirmed his plan to target gatherings of people on Election Day.
He was also allegedly working with a juvenile, who would have carried out the attack with him, with the plan being they both die as martyrs in the attack, the DOJ shared.
Tawhedi has been charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, and if convicted, he could receive up to 20 years in prison. He is also facing a charge of receiving a firearm to be used to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism. That charge has a maximum sentence of 15 years.
The investigation into the case remains ongoing at this point.