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Man arrested at JFK airport for planning to join ISIS in Syria

A New York man was arrested at JFK International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Qatar to join ISIS, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Syed Aman is charged with attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization. The Justice Department said Aman wanted to join ISIS to wage a holy war, or jihad, in Syria. He told an undercover agent that he hated people who “deny the way of Allah” and that if people were not killed, they would “kill us and ruin the earth through decay,” according to federal prosecutors.

“During the same period, Aman also posted on a social media platform his desire to 'kill Americans' and wrote in a notebook that he wanted to study to become a martyr or martyr in the name of ISIS,” the Justice Department said.

ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, is a Salafi-jihadist group, according to the National Counterterrorism Center. The U.S. Secretary of State designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization in 2004. The group is based in northern and eastern Syria and northern Iraq and has an estimated 8,000 to 16,000 members.

Aman is one of a growing number of Americans who have been arrested for attempting to join or support the organization. The George Washington University Extremism Program announced in March 2023 that 246 people had been charged with joining since 2014.

The FBI arrested Aman after he passed through security at the airport in Queens, New York, the Justice Department said. He told a confidential source that once in Qatar he would buy a flight to Turkey and enter Syria to join ISIS.

Man has created ISIS manuals on security and motivation for jihad

FBI Special Agent Marisa Zahn wrote in the complaint that Aman began expressing support for the Islamic State in 2023 and gave money to a person he believed to be a supporter but turned out to be a confidential FBI source to support the terrorist organization to support.

Zahn wrote that in June 2023, Aman joined an online IS forum of which the anonymous source was also a member. Others in the group shared propaganda and discussed how to move to ISIS territory and support the organization financially. Aman told the source that he wanted to become a fighter and take the step.

Aman tried to enter Syria in June 2023, but his mother took away his passport after he told her about his plans, Zahn wrote.

That same month, he told the confidential source about his background in computer programming and that he used it to write two Islamic State manuals on cyber and personal security precautions and another to “motivate brothers for jihad,” Zahn wrote.

In one document, he urged people to speak discreetly about their plans and included an article about a Londoner's plans that were thwarted because his acquaintances told law enforcement. He stayed in touch with the source, seeking advice about his plans and expressing his desire to join the group.

Aman told the source in July of this year that he grew tired of the FBI tracking him, Zahn wrote, and deleted a social media account “until it's safe to do so since they are known for confiscating phones.” he told the source.

He only spoke to the source again in October, when he spoke at length about his plans to join the jihad. In those plans, Aman would undergo laser eye surgery, leave the U.S. immediately afterward, book travel arrangements with a credit card and travel directly to Turkey or enter through Bangladesh, court papers say.

Aman told the source in October that he would attack and kill police officers who had tried to arrest him at an airport but failed to do so Tuesday night at JFK International Airport, Zahn wrote. The FBI arrested him before he boarded the flight to Qatar and found a steel pen in his pocket. In his handbook, Aman advised people to carry the pen with them in case of an attack as it was unlikely to be detected by security forces.

American ISIS membership, attack plans foiled

Aman's arrest is one of many attempts by law enforcement to deter Americans from joining the terrorist group or carrying out its attack plans.

In October, a U.S. Army soldier was sentenced to 14 years in prison for trying to help the Islamic State attack American troops. Federal prosecutors said Pfc. Cole Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, consumed propaganda and expressed support for the terrorist group.

He gave an undercover FBI agent advice on potential targets in New York City and instructions on how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East using diagrams of military maneuvers.

Also in October, an Afghan man was arrested in Oklahoma on charges of conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack in Oklahoma City on behalf of the Islamic State on Election Day. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi was arrested along with his brother-in-law.

In September, a Pakistani citizen was arrested by Canadian law enforcement near the U.S.-Canada border. In a complaint filed in U.S. district courts, federal prosecutors said Muhammad Shahzeb Khan had plans to carry out a mass shooting for ISIS at a Jewish center in Brooklyn, New York

The US is working to extradite Khan from Canada.

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter,@KrystalRNurse.

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