Three Brooklyn men have been arrested and charged with conspiring to support the Islamic State, including two suspects who planned to travel to Syria to fight on behalf of the terrorist organization, USA Today reported.
Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, of Kazakhstan, was arrested by members of the joint FBI-NYPD Joint Terror Task Force at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday while he was attempting to board a flight to Turkey on his way to Syria, U.S. authorities said. Abror Habibov, 30, of Uzbekistan, was accused of helping to fund Saidakhmetov's efforts.
Another defendant, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, of Uzbekistan, had purchased a ticket for a March flight to Istanbul and was scheduled to leave next month, but was nabbed at his home, said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn.
The would-be jihadists had been plotting to join ISIS "by flying to Turkey in a vain attempt to evade detection," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Diego Rodriguez.
On Aug. 9, Juraboev drew the attention of federal agents when he posted messages on an Uzbek-language website stating his desire to join ISIS and his willingness to assassinate President Obama because of the president's support for Israel. "What I'm saying is to shoot Obama and then get shot ourselves, will it do?" he wrote. "That will strike fear in the heart of infidels."
"We too wanted to pledge our allegiance and commit ourselves while not present there," he wrote. "I am in USA now but we don't have any arms. Is it possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs anyway while here?"
After confirming his support to the terror group in an interview with undercover agents in August 2014, the 24-year-old revealed that a friend, Saidakhmetov, shared similar views, the complaint said.
In September, a confidential informant posing as an ISIS sympathizer met Saidakhmetov and Juraboev at a mosque and taped a conversation with them in which they discussed their desire to travel to Syria via Turkey, according to Reuters.
Habibov's role in the plot appears to have been providing the money for Saidakhmetov to purchase his ticket at a Coney Island travel agency while also promising him additional funds.
If they failed, their alleged backup plan was to launch a terror attack in the U.S. and possibly kill FBI agents.
"I will just go and buy a machine gun, AK-47, go out and shoot all police," Saidakhmetov allegedly told an informant on Jan. 11, according to court papers.
"We will go and purchase one handgun ... then go and shoot one police officer... boom!" he said. "Then we will take his gun, bullets and a bulletproof vest ... then we will do the same with a couple of others. Then we will go to the FBI headquarters, kill the FBI people."
While Saidakhmetov and Juraboev are scheduled to appear in a Brooklyn Federal Court later on Wednesday, Habibov was captured in Florida and is expected to be arraigned in Jacksonville.
Meanwhile, defense attorneys for the three men could not immediately be identified, New York Daily News reported.
