A New Jersey man who prosecutors say was “dedicated … to waging a violent jihad against America” and was motivated by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. against Israel, was busted in Kenya earlier this month while en route to join the Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab, authorities said on Friday.
Karrem Nasr, 23, of Lawrenceville, faces up to 20 years in prison after Manhattan federal prosecutors charged him with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
“Nasr, a citizen of this country, traveled from Egypt to Kenya with the intention of joining and training with al Shabab [sic] so that he can carry out his jihad mission of death and destruction,” US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said Friday.
“Nasr was willing to kill and be killed to support the jihadist cause, and in his own words, he described America as ‘evil’ and ‘the head of a snake,'” he added.
Nasr had moved to Egypt in July to study Arabic and became “particularly motivated to become a jihadist” after Hamas killed more than 1,200 people – including at least 33 Americans – in an October attack on southern Israel, FBI special agent Bilal Morgan wrote in the document court.
US Attorney Damian Williams meets with Attorney General Merrick Garland. REUTERS Karrem Nasr was shot down while trying to join the terrorist group Al-Shabab. Facebook
“In a recent public social media post, Nasr warned that ‘Jihad’ is ‘coming soon to a US location near you,’ posting airplane, bomb and fire emojis,” Morgan wrote. “Nasr expressed his desire to join al Shabaab [sic] to receive military training and engage in jihad; that he was ready to kill and be killed; and that he specifically aspired to martyrdom for the cause of jihad.”
Nasr planned to meet members of al-Shabaab, which has ties to Al Qaeda, during his visit to Kenya after engaging with an FBI source posing as a facilitator for the terrorist organization last month.
“After the October 7 event, I think something has changed [for] better, I mean,” Nasr reportedly told the source. “I feel pride and dignity returning to Muslims.”
Karrem Nasr’s social media post. US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York
Nasr further referenced the recent online spread of Osama bin Laden’s 2002 “Letter to America,” which gained attention among TikTok users who claimed they had never heard Al Qaeda’s complaints about the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
“I don’t know if you follow the news in the West, but there are a lot of people now in America, non-Muslims, just reading the letter from the Sheikh. [Osama] bin Laden …” Nasr told the source, according to court documents. “And there are many people, because of this letter, [who] has completely changed their opinion of him, and they finally understand how bad America is.”
Nasr reportedly offered to “write for any group he joins” because he “can write well and knows how to translate,” adding that he also “wanted to practice to ‘shoot’ with any [terror] the group he was in,” Morgan wrote.
The defendant had originally planned to meet with the jihadist group in Kenya in January, but Nasr told sources he accelerated his plans after learning his mother was visiting from the US in mid-December and wanted to take him “back to America to continue my education and work. .”
Nasr plans to meet with members of al-Shabaab, which has ties to Al Qaeda, during his visit to Kenya. US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York
“Parents these days are not interested in religion and they don’t want their children to become mujahideen,” he told the source, noting that his mother was unaware of his intention to join al-Shabaab. “They want their children to see life, become doctors, engineers and make a lot of money.”
Nasr was eventually arrested by Kenyan authorities after his arrival in Nairobi on December 14, investigators said.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said in a statement that “the provision of support to such groups – especially by American citizens – is a brutal threat to our entire country and our way of life.”
“Instead of accepting everything that the United States offered him, Mr. Nasr allegedly moved abroad and committed to supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” he said.
“In the face of this, NYPD investigators and our law enforcement partners in the FBI-led New York Joint Terrorism Task Force will remain relentless in our efforts to identify and investigate anyone who clearly considers our country their sworn enemy. .”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
