The FBI charged an upstate New York man, Mufid Elfgeeh, on terror-related counts after they unearthed his alleged plot to buy guns to carry out an Islamic State attack on U.S. troops.
The Justice Department said Mr. Elfgeeh posted threatening messages on Twitter with pictures and captions that read, “fighting the American invasion,” NBC New York reported.
The feds also say that they caught him trying to buy two handguns and silencers which they allege he was planning to use in an attack on Americans — specifically on soldiers in the United States, NBC New York reported.
An indictment handed up late Tuesday further detailed that Mr. Elfgeeh is believed to have boasted of a desire to kill Shiite Muslims living in his city — Rochester — and that he hoped to recruit others to travel with him to Iraq and Syria and join the terrorist Islamic State group.
Federal authorities have tracked him for months, NBC New York said, referring to the indictment. They arrested him after he started to seek financial assistance to carry out the alleged attack plans, the FBI said.
And one piece of evidence seems especially damaging. The FBI said agents caught Mr. Elfgeeh on tape bragging about his hope to kill between 10 and 15 soldiers and then release a tape about his exploits, NBC New York reported.
Mr. Elfgeeh, 30, hails from Yemen but is a naturalized American citizen. He is being held with bail in jail.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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