A Texas man is in FBI custody on Thursday after authorities say he tried to assist ISIS and deliberate a terrorist assault on American soil – all from his house in Houston.
Authorities stated 28-year-old Anas Stated was looking for methods to commit violent acts on behalf of the Islamic State within the Houston space.
He has been charged with making an attempt to supply materials assist to the terrorist group.
Stated was arrested final week on the house complicated the place he lived, based on FBI Particular Agent in Cost Douglas Williams.
Williams stated that whereas in custody, Stated admitted to researching learn how to conduct an assault on native navy recruiting facilities, providing his dwelling as sanctuary for ISIS operatives, bragging that he would commit a “9/11-style” assault if he had the sources and making an attempt to provide ISIS propaganda.
“We stopped a potential terrorist attack from happening right here in Houston! Any day we can publicly say that is a good day,” FBI Houston stated.
A detention listening to is scheduled for Thursday afternoon in federal courtroom in Houston.
Stated has been on the FBI’s radar for the reason that bureau obtained a tip in 2017 about him buying two stickers: “one containing an image of the Dome of the Rock2 with an ISIS flag overlaying the image, and another showing the white silhouette of a man holding a rifle with the caption, “Winning the Islamic Nation.”
Stated was interviewed by the FBI 4 occasions in 2018 in relation to the sticker purchases.
“During an interview conducted on or about January 29, 2018, the Defendant admitted both stickers were meant to show support for ISIS,” although he didn’t assist killing within the identify of ISIS on the time, based on a detention memo laying out the allegations towards Stated.
Stated started supporting the ISIS ideology in 2015 when his household returned to the U.S. from Lebanon.
In a 2019 FBI interview, Stated claimed “he no longer consumed radical Islamic propaganda and only used the internet for schoolwork and for watching sports,” based on the memo.
That wasn’t true, based on the DOJ.
“On or about October 18, 2023, pursuant to legal process, FBI received information from Meta Platforms, Inc. (‘Meta’) regarding 11 Facebook accounts used by the Defendant that showed he continued to support ISIS and the violent attacks carried out in its name,” based on the DOJ.
His members of the family “expressed their concerns” in FBI interviews, and “subsequent analysis of the Defendant’s electronic devices revealed multiple encrypted messaging applications containing records of his efforts to create and disseminate propaganda that glorified ISIS’s ongoing violence, the evidence underlying the material support offense charged in the indictment,” the division alleged.
Stated allegedly refused to adjust to FBI brokers who executed a search warrant towards him on Nov. 8, and he smashed his cellphone.
