Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A U.S. citizen and resident of New York is charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham after his arrest on Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors says Syed Aman, a U.S. citizen and resident of Nassau County, N.Y., tried to board a flight bound for Doha, Qatar, when federal law enforcement arrested him at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, N.Y.
Federal prosecutors say Aman tried to travel to Syria to join ISIS and throughout 2023 and 2024 expressed his support for ISIS while a member of an online ISIS group forum and while posting on social media.
Aman allegedly sent money to an individual he thought was an ISIS operative with the intent of supporting ISIS activities in Syria.
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Aman also allegedly arranged to travel to Syria to wage jihad on behalf of ISIS and since the start of October stayed in contact with an FBI informant.
The informant said Aman expressed his hatred of those "who deny the path of Allah" and said they must be killed to prevent them from ruining the Earth with decay."
Aman also allegedly made social media posts expressing his desire to kill U.S. citizens and was studying how to become a martyr for ISIS.
Federal prosecutors say Aman tried to book flights to the Middle East twice in late October, but his credit card company declined to process the ticket transactions.
He eventually booked a flight to Bangladesh via Doha and would fly from Qatar to Turkey before crossing into Syria to join ISIS, according to the FBI.
Aman told the informant he carried a steel pen to use to attack law enforcement if necessary and was found carrying a metal pen when he was arrested at JFK airport.
Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Aman in the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
The FBI continues investigating the case against him.