The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently unsealed federal terrorism charges against three men who allegedly plotted attacks in New York City in summer 2016 in support of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which were ultimately stopped by law enforcement.
The three men, a 19-year old Canadian citizen named Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, a 19-year old U.S. citizen named Talha Haroon, and a 37-year old Philippine citizen named Russell Salic, allegedly communicated through a variety of internet messaging applications, which they used to plot their attacks.
According to DOJ, the three men planned to conduct a series of bombings and shootings in highly-populated areas of the city including Times Square and subway stations during Ramadan, a holy month in the Islamic faith, in the name of ISIS.
Bomb-making materials were allegedly purchased by El Bahnasawy, who also helped to secure a cabin near the city in which to assemble the explosives and stage the shooting attacks. Haroon, who was living in Pakistan at the time, allegedly met with explosives experts within Pakistan to further their plot before traveling to New York City.
While both El Bahnasawy and Haroon were set to carry out their plot, Salic wired money from the Philippines to the United States to further their plans.
The plot was ultimately thwarted by an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigations officer, who convinced the defendants that he too was a supporter of ISIS and told them he would carry out the attacks along side them.
DOJ stated Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Turner and Negar Tekeei of the Southern District of New York are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorneys Joshua Champagne and Larry Schneider of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.