Radicalized Georgia man pleads guilty to plotting to blow up the White House in Washington
A jihadist yesterday pleaded guilty to plotting to blow up the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty with IEDs and a rocket launcher.
Hasher Jallal Taheb, 23, of Cumming, Georgia, was snared in an FBI sting in January 2019 when he tried to buy assault rifles, explosive devices, and an anti-tank weapon from undercover agents.
‘Taheb hatched a dangerous plan that would have resulted in unimaginable injury,’ said Byung J. ‘BJay’ Pak, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
In March 2018, a member of the community in Atlanta reported his concerns to local law enforcement that Taheb had become radicalized.
He had changed his name and obtained a US passport for travel abroad, for ‘hijra’, a term used by ISIS to encourage its followers to migrate to its enclaves in Syria and Iraq.
In addition, by July of that year he had begun planning domestic jihad with his targets initially including the White House and the Statue of Liberty.
‘Taheb planned to conduct a terrorist attack on the White House as part of what he claimed was his obligation to engage in jihad,’ said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. ‘And that was just one of the iconic American landmarks he wanted to target.’
By December 2018, Taheb had listed several other targets in the Washington DC area: the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and a synagogue.
During undercover meetings with Taheb in January 2019, he produced sketches of the White House and described the types of weapons and explosives he wished to use in the attack, including semi-automatic weapons, improvised explosive devices, an anti-tank weapon, and hand grenades.
FBI special agents arrested Taheb on January 16, 2019, after he arrived at a pre-arranged location where he expected to obtain weapons for his attack.
Assistant Attorney General Demers said: ‘Thanks to a tip from a member of the community and the work of the agents, analysts, and prosecutors responsible for this case, the threat posed by the defendant was neutralized and the defendant has admitted his guilt and will now be held accountable for his crime.’
Taheb will be sentenced on June 23 before U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen. As part of the plea agreement, Taheb and the government agreed that he should receive a 15-year sentence of imprisonment.
‘This plea is the result of a more than year-long intensive investigation by FBI Atlanta’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which was because of a tip from the community,’ said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta.
‘Our citizens are our most important weapons in fighting terrorism, our eyes and ears in our communities, and why we say to please contact law enforcement if you see or hear something suspicious.’
Source: Daily Mail
