Afghan Suspect Faces Trial for Alleged IS Gun Rampage Plot on US Election Day

A man in his 20s from Afghanistan was arrested and brought to trial on charges of plotting a gun attack on the U.S. presidential election day.

U.S. Department of Justice Charges Afghan Man with Plotting Terror Attack on Election Day
[AP=Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media on the 9th, the U.S. Department of Justice arrested and charged Nasir Ahmad Tawedi (27), who came to the U.S. through the 2021 Special Immigrant Visa program and lives in Oklahoma City, the capital of Oklahoma.

This visa program, which is available to up to 50 people annually, is for those who worked as interpreters for the U.S. military or U.S. agencies in Iraq or Afghanistan, but the indictment did not specify whether Tawedi worked as an interpreter.

Tawedi searched online for ways to access CCTV cameras in Washington, D.C., the U.S. capital, and information about states where gun possession is not required. He was caught after meeting with an undercover FBI agent, who concealed their identity, along with his minor brother-in-law the day before to buy two AK-47 rifles, 10 magazines, and 500 rounds of ammunition.

Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General, stated in a press release, "We have thwarted a plot to acquire semi-automatic weapons and carry out a violent attack on U.S. soil on election day in the name of ISIS (the extremist militant group Islamic State)." He added, "We will continue to confront the ongoing threat that ISIS and its supporters pose to U.S. national security," and "We will find, investigate, and prosecute individuals who attempt to terrorize Americans."