A North Carolina Muslim has admitted that he was going to fight with terrorist groups.
Akba Jihad Jordan was arrested earlier this year with his friend Avin Marsalis Brown when they talked with an undercover FBI agent about joining jihad. They told the agent about weapons they have in their possession and that they would use them against the United States.
Jordan was arrested on the same day Brown was arrested at Raleigh Durham International airport attempting to fly to Turkey. Jordan had an appointment scheduled to get his passport so he could leave the country.
“Akba Jordan turned his back on his own country and was willing to fight side by side with terrorist groups in Yemen and Syria who wish to do us harm,” John Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in North Carolina, said in a statement following the hearing. “American citizens who offer support to terrorist organizations pose a grave threat to our national security and will face serious consequences for their actions.”
Jordan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. He could face up to 15 years in prison.
The head of the FBI has confirmed that an al-Qaeda cell that was struck last month in Syria is likely still working on a plan to attack the United States and its allies.
“Given our visibility we know they’re serious people, bent on destruction,” FBI Director James Comey said. He added they’re looking to make the attack “very, very soon.”
The revelation came during an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Comey said that at least a dozen Americans have been confirmed to be fighting alongside the ISIS terrorists and al-Qaeda related groups. He said that anyone confirmed to be associated with the terrorists and then return to the United States will be tracked “very carefully.”
Comey said that Americans should be more confident in the government after 9/11.
“[The government is] better organized, better systems, better equipment, smarter deployment. We’re better in every way that you’d want us to be since 9/11.”
A New York man has been charged with actively supporting the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.
Mufid Elfgeeh, 30, is a Yemeni born man who had been living in New York City. Elfgeeh ran a halal food market in the city and used the profits to help fund terrorism activities for the group. He also was arranging for the purchase and shipment of weapons.
Reports say that Elfgeeh attempted to buy guns from undercover FBI agents and worked with another undercover agents to help them travel to Syria to take the weapons to ISIS. He even accompanied an undercover agent to Buffalo, New York to pick up a passport for the trip to Syria.
Most disturbing was plans to murder members of the U.S. military.
“Elfgeeh also plotted to shoot and kill members of the United States military who had returned from Iraq,” prosecutors state. “As part of the plan to kill soldiers, Elfgeeh purchased two handguns equipped with firearm silencers and ammunition from a confidential source.”
Attorney General Eric Holder said this is just one of many operations currently underway.
“We will remain aggressive in identifying and disrupting those who seek to provide support to ISIL and other terrorist groups that are bent on inflicting harm upon Americans,” stated Attorney General Eric Holder, according to USA Today. “We are focused on breaking up these activities on the front end, before supporters of ISIL can make good on plans to travel to the region or recruit sympathizers to this cause.”
The FBI confirmed they are joining the search for a missing University of Virginia student.
Hannah Elizabeth Graham disappeared after leaving an off-campus apartment complex in Charlottesville before midnight on Sunday. Friends and family say there has been no trace of the 18-year-old Graham since that night.
Authorities have told Fox News the search is officially a “search and rescue” effort.
“Last night we expanded our search about 25 to 30 blocks Right now we are focusing on another five to six block area which is outside of the zone we looked at last night,” Capt. Guy Williams, of the Albemarle County Sheriff’s Office, told WDBJ7.com.
Police are asking anyone with information about the missing girl to call. She is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall. She was last seen wearing a silvery crop top and black stretch pants.
A second American in two days has been reported killed while fighting with the Islamic extremist group ISIS.
Abdirahmaan Muhumed of Minneapolis reportedly died in the same battle as Douglas McArthur McCain whose death was announced yesterday. Muhumed’s family says they’ve received a photo of the 29-year-old’s body but that the State Department has not confirmed it.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said they were working to confirm the man’s death.
The U.S. military has been striking ISIS locations in Iraq as part of a campaign to assist Iraqi and Kurdish forces who are trying to drive the terrorists out of the northern part of Iraq.
Muhumed, who is confirmed to be the father of at least 9 children, told Minnesota Public Radio earlier this year that he was fighting for the terrorists.
A Muslim has to stand up for [what’s] right,” Muhumed wrote in a Jan. 2 message. “I give up this worldly life for Allah.”
He said he was “happy” that people considered him a terrorist.
The FBI reports up to 100 Americans have been confirmed to be fighting for the terrorist group.
A Seattle strip club that was once a center for prostitution and routinely the subject of FBI stings is being born again.
Bethany Community Church bought Sugars, the infamous strip club, and is turning it into their central offices and a coffee shop.
“When we first entered the building it had a very dark feeling; smoke filled carpets, black painted ceilings and walls, and mirrors everywhere,” associate pastor Scott Sund told The Christian Post. “Before we started demolition, we met on Easter weekend and prayed and sang in the space to usher in the new story God was going to write through this place. It’s God’s story, we just get to play a small part.”
The church had been initially looking for a permanent location for services because they meet in a gym for weekly services. Then the children’s director, who serves children in the neighborhood of the club, approached the leadership about buying the building.
The church’s volunteers have stripped the inside of the club by getting rid of the carpets and wall mirrors that defined the club. The church hopes to have their community center open in the fall.
A makeshift bomb exploded at a Nogales, Arizona power substation Wednesday morning, destroying a diesel fuel tank and causing a massive federal investigation.
Agents from the FBI and ATF that specialize in bombings quickly reached the site after the blast at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. The explosion was strong enough to damage the tank and cause a diesel fuel spill but fortunately the bomb did not ignite the fuel.
Officials say had the fuel ignited it would have likely destroyed the substation.
Nogales police Lt. Carlos Jimenez said that the plant was critical for the area and had it been destroyed over 30,000 people would have been without power for days.
“The whole city of Nogales could have been compromised,” Jimenez said.
The blast did not cause any power disruptions and repairs should not cause the station to be off-line.
The FBI is trying to downplay fears after a photo of San Francisco’s International Airport was found inside an al-Qaeda produced magazine.
The spring issue of “Inspire” has a picture of the AirTrain at San Francisco Airport. The AirTrain connects all the airport terminals with the Bay Area Regional Transit.
A caption with the photo written in Arabic says to “stand up, pack your tools of destruction. Assemble your bomb, ready for detonation.”
“The San Francisco area is depicted in this al-Qaida publication,” Congressman Eric Swalwell said in a Homeland Security committee hearing. “What we believe from what senior law enforcement officials have told us is that this is AirTrain from San Francisco’s airport, and that the translation from the Arabic message encourages al-Qaida members to detonate explosive devices.”
Former FBI agent Rick Smith told CBS San Francisco that there should be some concern but he wouldn’t change travel plans. However, he said the magazine is appealing to wanna-be terrorists who could be much more dangerous than actual al-Qaeda operatives.
A man who had been scheduled to report to basic training next week is now on the run after the FBI claims he was planning an Islamic terrorist attack on U.S. troops.
Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, who goes by the alias “Booker,” had been recruited into the U.S. Army in Kansas City, Missouri February 2014. Military officials discharged him last week after his plot was discovered by law enforcement.
Friends of Hassan who claimed he was bragging about his upcoming attack had reportedly contacted the FBI.
The FBI is working with the 902d Military Intelligence Group in attempting to track down Hassan.
The Fort Hood attack which is being used as inspiration by Hassan happened November 5, 2009 when Army Major Nidal Hasan, a radical Muslim, killed 13 people and injured dozens at Fort Hood, Texas. He was sentenced to death after his trial last August.
Law enforcement sources say that Hassan might not be the only one plotting a similar attack.
The FBI continues to deny the attack on a Pacific Gas and Electric substation in Santa Clara County, California was the work of terrorists despite the slow leaks of more disturbing details about the April 16th attack surface in various news outlets.
The Los Angeles Times reports the attack was “military style” and that whoever conducted the assault knew the layout of the area, locations of security devices and how to avoid being identified on camera.
At least two of the attackers knew exactly which manhole covers to remove to access an underground vault where they used heavy wire cutters to disconnect fiber optic cables.
Also, the snipers used rounds that caused the transformers to only leak oil and be disabled without exploding, avoiding unnecessary attention to the site until they were done disabling 17 transformers. Video of the shooters, stationed 40 yards away from the site, showed only muzzle flashes and at no point did it show any attacker’s face.
The attack was also the night after the Boston Marathon bombings, leading some to wonder if there was a connection between the two incidents.
One legislator is saying what the FBI is not. Representative Zoe Lofgren of San Jose told Fox News that the attack on the station was performed by “pros.”
