Mustafa mousab alowemer11/26/2022 ![]() ![]() “The FBI takes threats to churches and other religious institutions extremely seriously and will use all our resources to stop potential terrorist attacks against them.” Fortunately, his plans were foiled by the full force of the FBI Pittsburgh Joint Terrorism Task Force,” said Assistant Director McGarrity. “Court documents show Mustafa Alowemer planned to attack a church in the name of ISIS, which could have killed or injured many people. While the public does not always see the results of the hard work of these dedicated men and women, this case is a visible demonstration of our commitment to rooting out terrorists and bringing them to justice.” “Every day investigators and prosecutors work tirelessly behind the scenes to disrupt terrorist activity and keep our community safe. “Our top priority is protecting the citizens of western Pennsylvania,” said U.S. ![]() I want to thank the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this investigation.” The National Security Division and our partners will continue our efforts to identify and bring to justice individuals in our country who seek to commit violence on behalf of ISIS and other terrorist organizations. “The defendant is alleged to have plotted just such an attack of a church in Pittsburgh in the name of ISIS. “Targeting places of worship is beyond the pale, no matter what the motivation,” said Assistant Attorney General Demers. During his communications, Alowemer stated his support for ISIS, and his desire to answer the call for jihad or travel to conduct jihad. In planning the attack, Alowemer used multiple social networking and mobile messenger applications to communicate with an individual whom he believed to be a fellow ISIS supporter. In or around June 2019, Alowemer purchased several items with the belief that they were necessary to assemble a destructive device and with the intention that they be used to construct the explosives that would be detonated in the vicinity of the Church. He was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation and two counts of distributing information relating to an explosive or weapon of mass destruction.Įleven people were shot and killed in an anti-Semitic attack at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in October, the deadliest attack against Jewish people in the modern history of the United States.In May 2019, Alowemer distributed multiple instructional documents on how to build and use explosives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to an undercover FBI agent whom he believed was a fellow ISIS supporter, according to the Department of Justice.Īlowemer distributed these documents with the intent that the information be used in the assembly of a destructive device and in furtherance of conducting an attack in support of ISIS. He is alleged to have handwritten a 10-point plan about how he personally intended to bring explosives in a backpack, and marked the church’s access areas on maps.Īlowemer planned to meet with the agent he thought was his co-conspirator Wednesday for the last time before the would-be attack in July, the Department of Justice statement said. In addition to contacting the man through social media and stating his support for the IS group, Alowemer had met with him four times since April, according to the statement. The suspect allegedly passed on documents about the construction and the use of explosives to a man he believed to be an IS group sympathiser, though he turned out to be an FBI employee in disguise. ![]() “The FBI takes threats to churches and other religious institutions extremely seriously and will use all our resources to stop potential terrorist attacks against them,” McGarrity added. “Court documents show Mustafa Alowemer planned to attack a church in the name of IS, which could have killed or injured many people,” Michael McGarrity, of the FBI’s counter-terrorism division, said in the statement. New York: Syrian refugee Mustafa Mousab Alowemer was arrested Wednesday in Pittsburg on suspicion of planning an attack against a Pennsylvania church in the name of the Islamic State (IS) group, the Justice Department said, Wednesday.Īlowemer, 21, who arrived in the country as a refugee from Syria in August 2016, intended to target a church in the North Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh, assistant attorney general John Demers and Pittsburgh federal prosecutor Scott Brady said in a statement. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |