Two men were arrested Wednesday in New York as they allegedly prepared to join Islamic State militants in Syria, while a third man was arrested in Florida for allegedly helping fund their efforts, after they boasted of their plans on the Internet.
The three, all immigrants from Central Asia who live in Brooklyn, N.Y., allegedly plotted to launch attacks in this country if they were prevented from joining the extremist group, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
One of the men repeatedly offered to assassinate President Obama if ordered to do so by Islamic State, according to the complaint.
Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, a citizen of Kazakhstan, was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, and then travel to Syria, the FBI said.
In conversations secretly recorded by the FBI, Saidakhmetov allegedly said he might try to force the flight to divert “so that the Islamic State would gain a plane.”
He also allegedly said that if he failed to reach Syria, he was prepared to join the military to kill U.S. soldiers, plant a bomb on Coney Island, the beachfront entertainment area in Brooklyn, or shoot FBI agents and New York police.
“We will go and purchase one handgun … then go and shoot one police officer,” he said in one wiretapped call, according to the complaint.
“Boom… 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.”
Also arrested was Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, a citizen of Uzbekistan. Authorities said he had purchased a ticket to Istanbul and planned to follow Saidakhmetov to Syria next month.
The third suspect, Abror Habibov, 30, also an Uzbek citizen, is accused of giving the two money to help them fly to Turkey to join Islamic State. Habibov, who owns a chain of kiosks in retail malls in several states, was arrested in Jacksonville, Fla.
About 20,000 foreign fighters have joined Islamic State and other Sunni militant groups in Syria and Iraq, including several thousand Europeans and about 100 Americans, according to U.S. estimates. About a dozen Americans are believed to be fighting on behalf of Islamic State.
Frankly, this sounds less like an ISIS plot and more like three hapless wannabes. But still, that the exploits and murders of ISIS is an inspiration to idealistic young Muslims throughout the world is a bad sign.
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