ISIS recruiting in New York – the tip of the iceberg?
This post is also available in: 
עברית (Hebrew)
Three New Yorkers were arrested last week on terrorism charges after they attempted to join Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria, federal authorities said.
Two of the men charged, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, and Abror Habibov, 30, are Uzbek citizens. The other is a 19-year-old Kazakh citizen, Akhror Saidakhmetov. The three are charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS.
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Police commissioner Bill Bratton said ISIS had recently emerged as “a new, significant addition to the terrorism threat” of potential attacks within the United States. Also, capable, “through their social media skills, to inspire individuals to travel to Syria to fight.”
The New York Times is quoting unnamed officials as saying the three men’s domestic plans included plots to kill FBI agents, plant a bomb at Coney Island, and kill President Obama — “if ordered by ISIS.”
The charges against the three men were announced by the FBI, the New York police department, and U.S. prosecutor Loretta Lynch, who is now being considered by the Senate for U.S Attorney General.
“The flow of foreign fighters to Syria represents an evolving threat to our country and our allies,” said Lynch. “We will vigorously prosecute those who attempt to travel to Syria to wage violent jihad on behalf of ISIS, and those who support them.
Register to iHLS Israel Homeland Security
Anyone who threatens our citizens and our allies, here or abroad, will face the full force of American justice.”
Federal authorities began monitoring the men online in summer 2014, after they expressed support “for the establishment by force of an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria,” according to prosecutors.
Official sources told New York Times that Saidakhmetov was arrested at Kennedy airport on Wednesday morning, as he was attempting to board a flight to Istanbul. Juraboev purchased a plane ticket for Turkey scheduled to leave on 29 March.
Habibov allegedly operated a “domestic support network” that funded Saidakhmetov’s efforts to join ISIS. Habibov appeared in court in Jacksonville, Florida on Wednesday, and Juraboev and Saidakhmetov appeared in court in Brooklyn. All courts ruled the three were to be held without bail.
According to HomeLand Security News Wire, earlier on Wednesday, before the arrests were announced, FBI director James Comey said the threat posed by sympathizers of the Islamic State, was escalating. “I have homegrown violent extremist investigations in every single state,” Comey said in a speech at a meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General.
