WASHINGTON — The FBI has arrested an Afghan man who officials say was inspired by the militant organization of Islamic State and planned 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 Monday after his arrest that he 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 US in 2021, had taken steps in recent weeks to further his attack plans, including ordering AK-47 rifles, liquidating his family’s assets and buying some tickets for his wife and child to travel home to Afghanistan. .
The arrest comes as the The FBI is facing heightened concerns about the potential for extremist violence on U.S. soil, with director Christopher Wray telling The Associated Press in August that he “found it difficult to think of a time in my career when so many different types of threats are happening all at once.”
“Terrorism continues to be the FBI’s top priority, and we will use every resource available to protect the American people,” Wray said in a statement Tuesday.
An FBI affidavit does not reveal exactly how Tawhedi came onto investigators’ radar, but cites what it contains as evidence from recent months showing his determination in planning an attack. A July photo included in the affidavit shows a man identified by investigators as Tawhedi reading to two young children, including his daughter, “a text describing the rewards a martyr receives in the hereafter.”
Officials say Tawhedi also consumed Islamic State propaganda, contributed to a charity that serves as a front for the militant group and communicated with an individual who the FBI determined through a previous investigation was involved in recruitment and indoctrination. He also viewed webcams outside 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 minor, a fellow Afghan national and the brother of Tawhedi’s wife.
After the two announced the sale of personal property on Facebook last month, the FBI brought in an informant to take up the offer and initiate a relationship. The informant later invited them to a shooting range, where they ordered guns from an undercover FBI official.
Tawhedi was arrested Monday after taking possession of two AK-47 rifles and ammunition, officials said. The unknown 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 that he had planned an attack before Election Day that would target large gatherings of people.
Tawhedi was charged with conspiracy and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. A message was left at the federal public defender’s office in Oklahoma City and no phone numbers were listed for Tawhedi or his family members in public records.
Tawhedi entered the U.S. on a special immigrant visa, a program that allows eligible Afghans who helped Americans despite great personal risk to themselves and their loved ones to apply for entry to America with their families.
Eligible Afghans include interpreters for the U.S. military, as well as individuals who are integral to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Although the program has been around since 2009, the number of applicants has skyrocketed since then the chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
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Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.