BROOKLYN, N.Y., Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Three Brooklyn men were arrested and charged with conspiring to support and fight for the Islamic State in Syria, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Officials said Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, and Abror Habibov, 30, planned to travel to Turkey and then to Syria to assist the IS. If their plan was not successful, they allegedly planned terrorist attacks on the United States. The men were each charged with attempt and conspiracy to provide material support to IS, also known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIS or ISIL.
Prosecutors said the men came to the attention of law enforcement in August 2014 after they allegedly posted on a Uzbek-language, pro-IS website saying they would kill President Obama if ordered by the IS. The plans including placing bombs on Coney Island, the FBI said.
"A different defendant, Saidakhmetov, expressed his intent to buy a machine gun and shoot police officers and FBI agents," the FBI said in a tweet.
Saidakhmetov, a citizen of Kazakhstan who lives in Brooklyn, was arrested Wednesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Istanbul, according to a federal criminal complaint. Juraboev and Habibov, both Uzbekistan citizens living in Brooklyn, are expected to appear in federal courts in Brooklyn and Jacksonville, Fla. respectively.
