An Egyptian man dwelling in Virginia who was slated to be deported has been charged with planning an assault on the Israeli consulate in New York Metropolis.
Abdullah Azz al-Din Taha Muhammad Hassan allegedly supplied bomb-making directions and plans on the right way to assault the Manhattan consulate to an undercover FBI supply, in keeping with courtroom paperwork. He was arrested Tuesday, the FBI instructed Fox Information Digital.
Hassan is charged with distribution of knowledge regarding explosives, harmful units and weapons of mass destruction in furtherance of the fee of a federal crime.
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On the other facet of a pro-Palestinian protest space, a gaggle of pro-Israel demonstrators gathered, holding Israeli flags in entrance of the Consulate Common of Israel in New York Metropolis. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Company through Getty Pictures)
“The FBI’s New York Office wants to reassure our Jewish community here in New York that our office — along with our law enforcement partners — remains vigilant in our efforts to identify, investigate and disrupt potential threats to our community, using every tool at our disposal to do so. As always, we urge all community members to report suspicious activity to law enforcement and call 911 in cases of imminent violence or threats to life,” the FBI mentioned in a press release.
“We will continue working to ensure our communities remain safe places for all, and we thank the public for their continued trust and partnership.”
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Hassan caught the FBI’s consideration after the Fairfax County Police Division knowledgeable federal authorities {that a} tipster alerted police about his social media posts on X. The tipster mentioned the account engaged in “radical and terrorist-leaning behavior.”
In a number of posts, Hassan praised the Islamic State terror group and different radical figures, federal prosecutors mentioned. In August, he started messaging with an FBI confidential supply whom he believed he recruited to conduct a “mass casualty attack,” authorities mentioned.
Demonstrators attend an “emergency rally for Gaza” exterior the Israeli Consulate in New York Metropolis, Oct. 9, 2023. (Jennifer Mitchell for Fox Information Digital)
Over a number of weeks, Hassan directed the informant on the right way to make a bomb, purchase weapons and the right way to make a “martyrdom video,” authorities mentioned. In November, he allegedly chosen the Consulate Common of Israel because the goal of the assault, saying it could be simpler to commit an assault utilizing small arms and be “martyred” by the police.
He believed New York can be “a gold mine of targets” for an assault, prosecutors mentioned. Because the pair deliberate the assault, Hassan additionally allegedly instructed him to guide flights to nations with out extradition agreements with the USA. In the course of the assault, Hassan mentioned the supply might both homicide folks on the consulate with an assault rifle or detonate an explosive vest whereas standing in a gaggle of targets, courtroom paperwork state.
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Hassan additionally requested for the supply to livestream the assault so he might watch it in actual time, authorities mentioned.
In a press release, Jonathan Harounoff, the worldwide spokesperson for Israel’s Everlasting Mission to the United Nations, mentioned the Jewish state “will not cower to terror.”
“We will not be silent in the face of hate and violence,” he mentioned. “We will not stop in our pursuit of justice and peace. We will continue in our fight to return all 100 of our hostages still being held in Hamas terror tunnels in Gaza.”
Sara Netanyahu and Ofir Akunis, consul basic of Israel, attend Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech on the 79th session of the Common Meeting at U.N. Headquarters. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket through Getty Pictures)
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Ofir Akunis, Israel’s consul basic in New York, expressed gratitude to authorities for thwarting the alleged assault.
“This attempted attack by terror organizations is an attack on the sovereign soil of the State of Israel in its entirety,” he wrote on X. “It’s proof that terror knows no boundaries and that we must fight it everywhere and every time. The threat it poses to the western world and its values must be fought together by all western democracies alike. Together we will prevail.”
