A 26-year-old former U.S. National Guardsman from Virginia allegedly bought guns to carry out an Islamic State attack on U.S. soil, according to court documents filed Sunday.
Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a naturalized citizen who was born in Sierra Leone and lived in Sterling, Virginia, was arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIL, including sending money and buying an assault rifle to be used in a domestic attack.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia by FBI special agent Nicholas Caslen, Jalloh admired the extremists who carried out recent deadly attacks at military bases, calling the Chattanooga, Tennessee gunman who left five dead in 2015 a “very good man” and saying he wanted to emulate the 2009 Fort Hood attack when 13 people were gunned down and 31 others wounded.
In an April 9 meeting with a like-minded associate in Sterling, Jalloh allegedly said he was weighing a “Nidal Hassan-type of thing,” naming the gunman convicted in the Fort Hood attack.
Jalloh was a member of the National Guard but left the service after listening to the lectures of ISIL leader Anwar al-Awlaki online, the feds alleged. He was first inspired to look up al-Awlaki lectures after hearing him be identified as a “hate preacher” by the media.
Jalloh was allegedly in touch with a now-deceased member of ISIL, whom he first met in Nigeria during a 2015 trip. When the ISIL member asked Jalloh about his willingness to participate in a possible attack in the United States, he was initially unsure, saying in a conversation on April 21, “I really want to but I don’t want to give my word and not fulfill it.”
He also offered to provide weapons to support a possible attack, saying he had a family member with access to AR-15s and AK-47s, the affidavit said.
In a May 1 conversation with a “confidential human source” working for the FBI who Jalloh believed was an ally, Jalloh allegedly said such attacks are “100 percent the right thing” and named the organizer of a “Draw Mohammed” contest as a possible target for an attack.
He also suggested planning an attack to correspond with Ramadan.
“Sometimes you just have to take action…You can’t be thinking too much…You have to pick an action and take it cuz [sic] time is not on your side,” he wrote in a text to that contact, according to the affidavit.
That person put Jalloh in touch with an undercover FBI agent, who Jalloh believed was a member of ISIL abroad, the affidavit alleged. Corresponding by text message, Jalloh believed the undercover agent had helped him wire $500 to help fighters travel to fight for ISIL.
After earlier purchasing a Glock handgun, Jalloh allegedly tried buying assault rifles on two days. On June 18, Jalloh and a family member spent four hours driving around the Charlotte, North Carolina area trying to buy weapons. He later told his contact the people he met with didn’t want to sell the “AK” they went to see.
On the evening of July 1, the FBI allegedly bserved Jalloh entering a gun store in Chantilly, Virginia, where an employee told him he did not have the required ID needed to purchase a Bushmaster AR-15. He returned the next night and allegedly bought a Stag Arms SA1 5.56-caliber rifle, which the feds said was rendered inoperable before he left the store.
He was arrested on Sunday and made his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
Read the full affidavit below:
Enjoy prison you stupid mother fucker.
In other words, Obama’s FBI has been saving Republicans’ asses? Say ‘Thank you,’ Mr. and Mrs. Conservative.
US Intelligence working exactly as it should. Many thanks to those involved for stopping what could have been more senseless loss of life.
Now, about banning assault rifles for civilians…
You know, if Trump was President the FBI would catch these nutjobs before they acted…oh…wait
Just imagine how much more they could do if only … the Republicans would agree to better funding of security requests. We can dream, I guess.