Man pleads guilty to threating to attack synagogue, Jews throughout New Jersey
A 19-year-old Sayreville man has admitted to threatening to attack a synagogue and individual Jews in an online manifesto late last year which prompted the FBI to issue a warning that spread fear through New Jersey’s Jewish community.
Omar Alkattoul pleaded guilty Wednesday in Trenton federal court to one count of transmitting a threat in interstate and foreign commerce, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
According to court documents and statements, on Nov. 1, 2022, Alkattoul used two social media apps to send at least six unnamed individuals a link to “When Swords Collide,” which the then-Sayreville High School student said he’d written. Alkattoul said the document was written “in the context of an attack on Jews.”
In it, he discusses plans to kill Jews as revenge for the death of Muslims. “I am the attacker and I would like to introduce myself … I am a Muslim with so many regrets but I can assure you this attack is not one of them,” he wrote, adding that he was motivated by his “hatred towards Jews and their heinous acts.”
“I will discuss my motives in a bit but I did target a synagogue,” he wrote.
According to the criminal complaint, Alkattoul told law enforcement in a subsequent interview that he became radicalized after viewing ISIS propaganda online and communicating with others, who he believed to be part of al-Qaeda, who encouraged him to carry out an attack.
Alkattoul later told authorities that he was merely joking and didn’t want to serve time in prison, the complaint said.
Authorities said Alkattoul agreed to be taken to a hospital for a voluntary exam after his interview. During the trip, he allegedly told a hospital employee that he identified with the ideologies of ISIS and al-Qaeda and had plans to “blow up a synagogue but did not know if it was going to be in a day, a week, or year.”
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 14 when Alkattoul faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
“… we intend to seek a sentence that will hold him accountable,” Sellinger said. “No one should be targeted for violence or with acts of hate because of how they worship. Protecting our communities of faith and places of worship is at the heart of this office’s mission.”
“The laws of our nation allow for everyone to express themselves,” FBI-Newark Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said. “However, when that expression turns into a specific threat toward others, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies must take action.”
Source » msn
