By Erika Hernandez
Nov 17, 2024, 16:44 PM EST
A Texas man was arrested by the FBI on Thursday after authorities said he attempted to support ISIS and planned a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.all from his apartment in Houston.
Authorities said Anas Said, 28, was looking for ways to commit violence on behalf of the Islamic State in the Houston area. He has been accused of attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group.
Said was arrested last week at the apartment complex where he livedaccording to information from the special agent in charge of the FBI, Douglas Williams, cited by Fox News.
Williams said that while in detention, Said admitted to researching how to carry out an attack on local military recruiting centers, offering his home as a sanctuary for ISIS operatives, boasting that he would commit a “9/11-style” attack if he had to. resources and trying to produce ISIS propaganda.
“We have prevented a potential terrorist attack from occurring right here in Houston. “Any day we can say publicly that it is a good day,” said the FBI in Houston.
Said is in custody but appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, his lawyer, Baldemar Zúñiga, told Fox News Digital.
“The indictment only alleges that he supported a terrorist group by producing videos and propaganda,” he said, noting that federal prosecutors mentioned conspiracy to commit terrorist acts but did not charge him with it.
Said has been on the FBI’s radar since the agency received a tip in 2017 about the purchase of two ISIS propaganda stickers.
“During an interview on or about January 29, 2018, the defendant admitted that both stickers were intended to show his support for ISIS,” although at the time he did not support killings on behalf of ISIS, according to an arrest memo that lays out the accusations against Said.
Said began supporting ISIS ideology in 2015, when his family returned to the United States from Lebanon.
He was born in the United States and moved to Lebanon with his family when he was a child, Zuniga said.
Despite Said’s alleged crimes, he does not have any negative feelings toward the United States, Zúniga said.
Said allegedly refused to comply with FBI agents who executed a search warrant against him last Friday and smashed his cell phone.
Keep reading:
–Houston lawyer shot to death by angry McDonald’s customer
–Man who killed Houston lawyer during fight at McDonald’s identified
–Hispanic Texas doctor found guilty of injecting poison into his patients