FBI Arrests Afghan Man, Foil Attack    10/09 06:12

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI has arrested an Afghan man who officials say was 
inspired by the Islamic State militant organization and was plotting an 
Election Day attack targeting large crowds in the U.S., the Justice Department 
said Tuesday.

   Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City told investigators after his 
arrest Monday that he had planned his attack to coincide with Election Day next 
month and that he and a co-conspirator expected to die as martyrs, according to 
charging documents.

   Tawhedi, who arrived in the U.S. in September 2021, had taken steps in 
recent weeks to advance his attack plans, including by ordering AK-47 rifles, 
liquidating his family's assets and buying one-way tickets for his wife and 
child to travel home to Afghanistan, officials said.

   The arrest comes as the FBI confronts heightened concerns over the 
possibility of extremist violence on U.S. soil, with Director Christopher Wray 
telling The Associated Press in August that he was "hard pressed to think of a 
time in my career where so many different kinds of threats are all elevated at 
once."

   "Terrorism is still the FBI's number one priority, and we will use every 
resource to protect the American people," Wray said in a statement Tuesday.

   An FBI affidavit does not reveal precisely how Tawhedi came onto 
investigators' radar, but cites what it says is evidence from recent months 
showing his determination in planning an attack. A photograph from July 
included in the affidavit depicts a man investigators identified as Tawhedi 
reading to two young children, including his daughter, "a text that describes 
the rewards a martyr receives in the afterlife."

   Officials say Tawhedi also consumed Islamic State propaganda, contributed to 
a charity that functions as a front for the militant group and communicated 
with a person who the FBI determined from a prior investigation was involved in 
recruitment and indoctrination of people interested in extremism. He also 
viewed webcams for 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 juvenile, a fellow Afghan national 
and the brother of Tawhedi's wife.

   After the two advertised the sale of personal property on Facebook, the FBI 
enlisted an informant last month to respond to the offer and strike up a 
relationship. The informant later invited them to a gun range, where they 
ordered weapons from an undercover FBI official who was posing as a business 
partner of the informant, according to court papers.

   Tawhedi was arrested Monday after taking possession of two AK-47 rifles and 
ammunition he had ordered, officials said. The unidentified co-conspirator was 
also arrested but the Justice Department did not provide details because he is 
a juvenile.

   After he was arrested, the Justice Department said, Tawhedi told 
investigators he had planned an attack for Election Day that would target large 
gatherings of people.

   Tawhedi was charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material 
support to the Islamic State, which is designated by the U.S. as a foreign 
terrorist organization. The charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

   He appeared in court Tuesday and was ordered detained. An email to an 
attorney listed as representing him did not immediately return an email seeking 
comment.

   It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak on his 
behalf.

   A for-sale sign stood in the yard outside a modest, two-story brick home 
listed as being connected to Tawhedi's family in the Oklahoma City suburb of 
Moore.

   A woman who identified herself as Tawhedi's wife declined to discuss the 
case.

   "We don't want to talk in the media," said the woman, who did not give her 
name.

   Tawhedi entered the U.S. on a special immigrant visa in 2021 and has been on 
parole status pending the conclusion of his immigration proceedings, the 
Justice Department said. The program permits eligible Afghans who helped 
Americans, despite great personal risk to themselves and their loved ones, to 
apply for entry into America with their families.

   Eligible Afghans include interpreters for the U.S. military as well as 
individuals integral to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. While the program has 
existed since 2009, the number of applicants skyrocketed after the chaotic U.S. 
withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

   Shawn VanDiver, the president of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of organizations 
dedicated to helping Afghans trying to leave Afghanistan, said that though the 
charges are serious, "it's critical that we do not assign blame to an entire 
community for the actions of one individual. Thousands of Afghans who resettled 
in the United States are working to build new lives and contribute to our 
shared future."

   "These are the same individuals who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in 
Afghanistan for over two decades, defending the values we hold dear," he said 
in a statement. "Now, they are our neighbors, and we must support them as they 
seek safety and stability in their new home."