Feds Bust 3 Brooklyn Men Trying to Join ISIS

One told feds he wanted to join ISIS, would harm Obama
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 25, 2015 12:06 PM CST
Updated Feb 25, 2015 1:28 PM CST
Feds Bust 3 Brooklyn Men Trying to Join ISIS
In this June 16, 2014 file photo, demonstrators chant pro-Islamic State group slogans as they carry the group's flags in Mosul.   (AP Photo, File)

Three Brooklyn men have been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a terror group, per a federal indictment unsealed today. As NBC reports, the men—ages 19, 24, and 30—are accused of planning to join ISIS in Syria, though prosecutors say that they also discussed domestic attacks if they couldn't make it out of the country. Reuters names the men as Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, of Uzbekistan and Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, of Kazakhstan; Abror Habibov, 30, of Uzbekistan is accused of what Reuters calls "helping to fund Saidakhmetov's efforts to join [ISIS]." The arrests came just after midnight, reports the AP; all are due today in federal courts in New York and Florida.

Saidakhmetov was arrested at JFK International Airport, where he was trying to fly to Syria by way of a Turkey-bound flight. Juraboev had purchased a ticket to Istanbul for next month; he was arrested in Brooklyn. Per Reuters, he didn't exactly play hard to get after attracting the attention of feds last August by posting pro-ISIS sentiments online, as well as his willingness to kill President Obama: "Agents interviewed Juraboev at his home in August 2014, where he repeated his support for Islamic State, said he wanted to travel to Syria to wage war on its behalf and confirmed he would be willing to harm Obama, according to the criminal complaint." He also helpfully told feds about his like-minded friend Saidakhmetov. The Wall Street Journal has the full indictment here. (More ISIS stories.)

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