NY - Queens College student plans attack on behalf of ISIS

http://7online.com/news/queens-coll...th-planning-attacks-on-behalf-of-isis/788452/

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A 20-year-old college student from Queens has been arrested for allegedly taking steps to plan to attack targets in the metropolitan area on behalf of ISIS.

Munther Omar Saleh appeared in federal court Saturday following a three month federal investigation.

Saleh conducted online searches on building explosives and was eluding law enforcement, authorities say. He was arrested earlier this month near the Whitestone Bridge.

According to investigators, he expressed interest to a confidential informant in conducting ISIS-style jihad in the New York metropolitan area.

Saleh thought al-Qaeda was getting soft and was "making efforts to prepare an explosive device for detonation" in New York, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

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A Queens college student has been accused of attempting to prepare an explosive device for denotation in the NYC area on behalf of the Islamic State.

He was arrested Saturday by federal agents.

According to a criminal complaint from the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York, Munther Omar Saleh was spotted walking across the George Washington Bridge twice in March, first carrying a lantern and looking around suspiciously. The second time, he was questioned by police and agents from the joint terrorism task force, but he denied any allegiance to the terrorist organization.

The complaint alleges Saleh's online activities indicated otherwise.

Authorities say he tweeted in September: "I fear AQ may be getting too moderate."

They also say he researched city landmarks and tourist attractions and emailed himself information on how to build a pressure cooker bomb. They say his search terms include "training," "equipment," "gear" and "weapons."

http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs...tack-nyc-area-on-behalf-of-islamic-state.html

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Early on Saturday morning, agents saw Mr. Saleh and two unnamed co-conspirators try to elude a surveillance car in their green Jeep Cherokee by speeding through a parking lot with their lights off and pulling over. Later, around 4 a.m., near the Whitestone Expressway in Queens, Mr. Saleh and one of the co-conspirators got out of the Jeep and ran toward the surveillance car. The co-conspirator, who was not charged in the complaint, had a folding knife in his waistband.

That co-conspirator had earlier sent Mr. Saleh a link to a YouTube video featuring propaganda about the Islamic State’s operations in Syria, the complaint says.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/n...-charged-with-conspiring-to-support-isis.html