The FBI has arrested an Oklahoma-based Afghan man who officials say was inspired by the militant organisation Islamic State and was planning an attack on US Election Day, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City, told investigators after his arrest Monday that he planned the attack on Election Day next month and that he and his co-conspirator expected to die as martyrs, charging documents said.
Tawhedi, who entered the US in September 2021 on an immigrant visa, conspired in a criminal conspiracy to try to provide material aid to the Islamic State group. He intended to commit an act of terrorism on US soil with a firearm.
The arrest came as the FBI faced heightened concerns about the potential for extremist violence in the US. In August, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Associated Press that he found it “hard to imagine a time in my career when so many different types of threats are being raised at the same time.” Wray also said in a statement on Tuesday:
Terrorism remains the FBI’s number one priority, and we will use every resource to protect the American people.
The FBI affidavit did not reveal exactly how Tawhedi came to the attention of investigators, but cited evidence in recent months indicating his determination to plan an attack. A photograph taken in July and included in the affidavit shows a man identified by investigators as Tawhedi reading to two young children, including his daughter, “a text that describes the reward a martyr receives in the afterlife.”
Officials said Tawhedi also consumed Islamic State propaganda, contributed to a charity that functioned as a front for militants, and communicated with a man the FBI had identified in a previous investigation as recruiting and indoctrinating people interested in extremism. He also viewed webcams of the White House and the Washington Monument in July.
Tawhedi’s alleged co-conspirator was not identified by the Justice Department, which described him only as a minor, a compatriot from Afghanistan and the brother of Tawhedi’s wife.
