The Planned Attacks, Thwarted by Law Enforcement, Included
the Detonation of Explosive Devices in Times Square and the New York City
Subway System
Acting Assistant Attorney General for
National Security Dana J. Boente, Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim for the
Southern District of New York, Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney
Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field Office, Assistant Director in Charge Danny
Kennedy of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Calvin
A. Shivers of the FBI’s Denver Field Office and Commissioner James P. O’Neill
of the NYPD, announced the Court’s unsealing of federal terrorism charges
against three men alleged to have plotted attacks on New York City during the
summer of 2016 in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS),
which were thwarted by law enforcement. All three men have been arrested,
and one has pleaded guilty.
The defendants are: Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, a 19-year-old Canadian citizen; Talha Haroon, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen residing in
Pakistan; and Russell
Salic, a 37-year-old Philippine citizen. Communicating through
Internet messaging applications, these three men allegedly plotted to conduct bombings and shootings in heavily populated areas of New York City
during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan in 2016, all in the name of ISIS (the
NYC Attacks). El Bahnasawy purchased bomb-making materials and helped
secure a cabin within driving distance of New York City to use for building the
explosive devices and staging the NYC Attacks. Haroon allegedly made
plans to travel from Pakistan to New York City to join El Bahnasawy in carrying
out the attacks, and traveled within Pakistan to meet with explosives experts
in furtherance of the plot. And as El Bahnasawy and Haroon prepared to
execute the NYC Attacks, Salic allegedly wired money from the Philippines to
the United States to help fund the terrorist operation.
·
The planned attacks included detonating
bombs in Times Square and the New York City subway system and shooting
civilians at specific concert venues.
·
Law enforcement – the FBI and the NYPD
– successfully thwarted this terrorist plot. An undercover FBI agent (the
UC) convinced the defendants that the UC was an ISIS supporter prepared to
carry out the attacks with them.
·
El Bahnasawy, who has been in custody
since he was arrested by the FBI in May 2016, pleaded guilty to terrorism
offenses and is awaiting sentencing.
·
Haroon and Salic have been arrested in
foreign countries by foreign authorities in connection with these charges and
it is the hope and expectation of this Office and U.S. law enforcement that
they will be extradited to the United States to face justice in a United States
court.
On May 21, 2016, El Bahnasawy was arrested in
New Jersey, after traveling to the United States from Canada in preparation for
carrying out the NYC Attacks. Haroon was arrested in Pakistan in or about
September 2016, and Salic was arrested in the Philippines in or about April
2017. El Bahnasawy pleaded guilty on Oct. 13, 2016, to a
seven-count Superseding Information before U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman.
Today, the Court unsealed the Superseding Information and El Bahnasawy’s guilty
plea, as well as the Complaint and Indictment previously filed against El
Bahnasawy.[1]
The Court also unsealed today the five-count Complaint charging Talha Haroon
(the Haroon Complaint), and the seven-count Complaint charging Russell Salic
(the Salic Complaint), based on their alleged participation with EL Bahnasawy
in the plot to carry out the NYC Attacks.
According to the allegations in the
Haroon Complaint and the Salic Complaint[2];
the Complaint, Indictment, and Superseding Information filed against El
Bahnasawy; and the transcript of El Bahnasawy’s guilty plea[3]:
In the spring of 2016, El Bahnasawy and
Haroon were plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in New York City in support
of ISIS during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan (which ran from approximately
June 5 to July 5 in 2016). In the course of their preparations, El
Bahnasawy and Haroon communicated, via electronic messaging applications
accessible on cellphones, with a certain individual posing as an ISIS supporter
who was, unbeknownst to them, the UC.
El Bahnasawy and Haroon declared their
allegiance to ISIS in electronic communications with the UC, and expressed
their intention of carrying out Paris- and Brussels-like terrorist attacks on
behalf of ISIS in New York City. El Bahnasawy explained to the UC that he
was in contact with an ISIS affiliate about obtaining official sanction of the
planned attacks by the Khorasan Province, a branch of ISIS active in
Pakistan. Haroon, who was based in Pakistan and was introduced to the UC
by El Bahnasawy, informed the UC that he was in contact with ISIS associates
within the Khorasan Province, and that “khurasan dawla [ISIS] has o[u]r
back.” El Bahnasawy stated to the UC that “[t]hese Americans need an attack,”
that he aspired to “create the next 9/11,” and that he planned to “com[e] to
new York at around may 22” from Canada. Haroon stated that he intended to
fly from Pakistan to New York City to carry out the NYC Attacks with El
Bahnasawy, and hoped to “cause great destruction to the filthy kuffars[4]
by our hands.”[5]
El Bahnasawy and Haroon identified
multiple locations and events in and around New York City as targets of the
planned attacks, including the New York City subway system, Times Square, and
certain concert venues. For example, on May 1, 2016, El Bahnasawy sent
the UC multiple images of maps of the New York City subway system containing
markings that depicted plans for attacking the subway system, including by
identifying the subway lines in which explosives would be detonated as part of
the NYC Attacks. On
May 12, 2016, El Bahnasawy sent the UC an image of Times Square and
stated: “[W]e seriously need a car bomb at times square. . Look at these
crowds of people!” That same day, El Bahnasawy also expressed his desire
to “shoot up concerts cuz they kill a lot of people.” El Bahnasawy
described the plan to attack concerts as follows: “[W]e just walk in with
guns in our hands. That’s how the Paris guys did it.”
On May 5, 2016, Haroon expressed to the
UC that the subway was a “perfect” target, that they should shoot as many
passengers on the train as possible, including “women or kids,” and that “when
we run out of bullets we let the vests go off.” That same day, Haroon
discussed with the UC the necessary supplies for making explosive devices for
use in the NYC Attacks. On May 9, 2016, Haroon stated to the UC:
“NY Needs to fall. It’s a must.”
During May 2016, El Bahnasawy, while in Canada, purchased an
array of bomb-making materials for use in the NYC Attacks, including
approximately 40 pounds of hydrogen peroxide (the “Hydrogen Peroxide”) – which
is a primary ingredient in TATP (triacetone triperoxide), a powerful explosive
commonly used in improvised explosive devices. El Bahnasawy also
purchased, among other things, batteries, Christmas lights, thermometers, and
aluminum foil for use in constructing explosive devices to carry out the NYC
Attacks.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, based on Haroon’s communications
with the UC, Haroon traveled to a certain city to meet with an explosives
expert for the purpose of obtaining additional information to be used in
building bombs for the planned NYC Attacks. Haroon advised that they would
need “perming cords” (i.e., detonator cords) for constructing the improvised
explosive devices, and conveyed his expectation that El Bahnasawy was acquiring
“all that’s needed.” Haroon repeatedly expressed his commitment to travel
to New York City as soon as feasible to carry out the planned attacks in
support of ISIS, and described the steps that he had taken to renew the
necessary travel documents to enable him to exit Pakistan and travel to the
United States for the purpose of carrying out the NYC Attacks.
In early May 2016, El Bahnasawy informed the UC that El
Bahnasawy had been communicating with Salic – who was known to El Bahnasawy as
“Abu Khalid” and “the doctor” – about providing additional funding for the NYC
Attacks. EL Bahnasawy further informed the UC that Salic was a trusted
ISIS supporter who had provided funding in support of ISIS on prior
occasions. El Bahnasawy advised that Salic would send approximately $500
to help fund the NYC Attacks, and that the money sent by Salic would be used to
acquire additional ammunition and bomb-making materials for carrying out the
attacks. El Bahnasawy informed the UC that he had sent the UC’s account
information to Salic so that Salic could transfer money to the United States in
support of the NYC Attacks, and El Bahnasawy provided the UC with Salic’s
contact information on an electronic messaging application, to enable Salic to
execute the planned money transfer.
Shortly thereafter, Salic, using the alias Abu Khalid, began
messaging with the UC. Salic informed the UC that he had been in contact
with El Bahnasawy, and that Salic was prepared to transfer money to the United
States to help fund the NYC Attacks. Salic, who allegedly maintained an
active pro-ISIS social media presence, also conveyed that he had previously
sent money to multiple other countries in support of ISIS, and expressed his
allegiance to ISIS. For example, on May 9, 2016, Salic informed the UC
that he was “desperate” to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Salic also expressed
his belief that he could safely send money to support the NYC Attacks from the
Philippines, where he claimed to be at the time, without attracting law
enforcement scrutiny, stating: “[I]ts not strict here. Unli[k]e in Aus
[Australia] or Uk [the United Kingdom] even liking FB [Facebook] status will
put[] u in jail . . . Terrorists from all over the world usually come here as a
breeding ground for terrorists . . . hahahaha . . . But no worry here in
Philippines. They dont care bout IS [ISIS]..loll[.] Only in west.”
On May 11, 2016, Salic sent approximately $423 from the
Philippines to the UC to help fund the planned NYC Attacks. Salic also
informed the UC that he intended to continue sending additional money in
support of ISIS in the future, stating: “In Sha Allah once we have the
blessings again we will distribute again.”
As described above, El Bahnasawy acquired an array of
bomb-making materials for use in carrying out the NYC Attacks. In mid-May
2016, El Bahnasawy shipped those bomb-making materials, including the Hydrogen
Peroxide, to the UC in the United States. El Bahnasawy planned to build
the explosive devices and prepare for the NYC Attacks with Haroon and the UC at
a rural cabin within driving distance of New York City. EL Bahnasawy
helped to secure such a cabin for a period beginning in late May 2016, when he
planned to arrive in the New York City area. El Bahnasawy informed the UC
that the cabin would need to contain a refrigerator for purposes of making the
explosives, and that El Bahnasawy wanted to “practise shooting” at the cabin
site if it was not “too close to people.”
On May 12, 2016, when the UC sent Salic a photograph of the
Hydrogen Peroxide that El Bahnasawy had purchased for use in the NYC Attacks, Salic
reiterated his support for the planned attacks, and Salic also conveyed that if
he was unable to travel to Syria to join ISIS, he might carry out an attack
himself. During subsequent communications with the UC, Salic described
New York City as “the capital of Kufr [Kuffar],” and stated that “[i]t would be
a great pleasure if we can slaughter” people in New York City. Salic
further conveyed to the UC that he would be praying to Allah for the success of
the operation when the planned attacks were imminent.
On May 20, 2016, Haroon conveyed to the
UC that Times Square was “a
perfect spot to hit them,” and suggested that the plan could include “[d]rive
by or we surround the whole street and trap them and kill as many as
possible.” In the course of his communications with the UC, Haroon also
stated: “I wanna kill . . . them in thousands”; and “we have to make a
ocean out of their blood[.] Leave no one standing.” Haroon reiterated his
intention of traveling to New York City, and discussed attempting to execute
the attacks as soon as Memorial Day (i.e., May 30, 2016), stating that “that’s
a day that will change history” and that the attacks “will scar them for life
knowing the soldiers of Allah are everywhere and ready.”
On May 21, 2016, El Bahnasawy traveled from Canada to the
New York City area, in preparation for staging and ultimately carrying out the
NYC Attacks with Haroon. In coordination with Canadian law enforcement,
U.S. law enforcement closely monitored El Bahnasawy’s travel to the United States
on May 21, 2016, and El Bahnasawy was arrested by the FBI that night in
Cranford, New Jersey. Haroon was subsequently arrested in Pakistan based
on the charges in the Haroon Complaint, and Salic was subsequently arrested in
the Philippines based on the charges in the Salic Complaint.
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