Three New York City men were arrested on Wednesday for attempting to join the Islamic State (IS) and planning attacks on American soil.
Abror Habibov, 30, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, and Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, were picked up by federal authorities and face maximum sentences of 15 years, reports ABC News..
Habibov lived in Brooklyn but was from Uzbekistan. He was arrested in Florida, and is accused of funding Saidakhmetov's exploits.
Juraboev, also of Uzbekistan, lived in Brooklyn as well, and had a ticket to fly to Turkey next month. In August, he allegedly posted a message on an IS website seeking advice.
"I am in USA now," he allegedly wrote in the Uzbek language. "But is it possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs anyway while here? What I'm saying is, to shoot Obama and then get shot ourselves, will it do? That will strike fear in the hearts of infidels."
In conversations with undercover FBI agents, Juraboev continued to assert his willingness to kill "if Allah wills," as well as express his loyalty to IS, and his desire to kill President Obama.
Saidakhmetov is from Kazakhstan and lived in Brooklyn. He was arrested at JFK airport trying to travel to Istanbul, and authorities suspect he was going to enter Syria.
The teen is accused of planning to join the US military to pass information to the terrorists, and potentially kill US soldiers. He also allegedly planned to kill police and FBI officers.
"It was made quite plain based on those statements that if they were not able to go [to Syria or Iraq], that they would seek to acquire weapons here... and seek to attack," NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said. "Those aspirations were made quite clear."
A defense attorney for Saidakhmetov, Adam Perlmutter, said, "It is my hope that in America that the presumption of innocence still holds," adding, "U.S. government needs to find another way to approach Muslim men who could be radicalised."
