A Texas man was taken into FBI custody Thursday after authorities say he tried to support ISIS from his Houston apartment and planned a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Authorities said Anas Saeed, 28, was seeking ways to carry out acts of violence on behalf of Islamic State in the Houston area. He is charged with attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
FBI Special Agent Douglas Williams said Saeed was arrested last week at an apartment complex where he lived.
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On January 19, FBI Special Agent in Charge Doug Williams addressed the media from the Houston Field Office. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Williams said that while in custody, Said admitted that he researched ways to attack local military recruiting centers and offered his home as a haven for ISIS operatives, adding that if he had the funds he would launch a “9/11-style” attack. He said he boasted that he would do so. And they are trying to generate propaganda for ISIS.
“We stopped a potential terrorist attack from occurring here in Houston! Any day you can say it's a good day in public is a good day,” said the Houston FBI.
Said remains in custody but appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, his lawyer Valemar Zuniga told FOX News Digital.
“The indictment alleges only that he supported a terrorist organization through the production of videos and propaganda,” he said, adding that federal prosecutors have mentioned planning terrorist acts but have not charged him with such crimes. He pointed out that. “No such thing has been alleged.”
Read the Justice Department's detention memo outlining the allegations against him — App users please click here:
Mr. Said had been on the FBI's radar since 2017, when the agency received information that he had purchased two stickers. “One contains an image of Rock's Dome 2 with an ISIS flag superimposed over it, and the other shows a white silhouette of a man holding it in his hand.” A rifle with the inscription “Victory for the Islamic State.”
“Does that seem a little excessive? Yes,” Zuniga said.
Said was questioned by the FBI four times in 2018 in connection with the sticker purchases.
According to the detention memo, “During interrogation on or about January 29, 2018, the defendant admitted that both stickers were intended to show support for ISIS,” but at the time he was not responsible for killings in the name of ISIS. It is said that he did not support it. Charges against Saeed. Mr. Said began supporting ISIS ideology in 2015, when his family returned to the United States from Lebanon.
Mr. Said was born in the United States and moved to Lebanon with his family as a child, Mr. Zuniga said. He returned to the United States in 2014.
Despite Said's alleged crimes, Zuniga said he has no negative feelings toward the United States.
“I don't say that at all,” he said. “I think he certainly has a passion for defending Islam. I don't think he has any particular animosity toward the United States itself.”
According to the memo, Said claimed in a 2019 FBI interview that he “no longer consumes extremist Islamic propaganda and uses the internet only for schoolwork and watching sports.”
The Department of Justice seal speaks during a press conference at the Justice Department's offices in Washington, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
That was not true, according to the Department of Justice.
“Pursuant to legal process, on or about October 18, 2023, the FBI received information from Meta Platforms, Inc. (“Meta”) regarding 11 Facebook accounts used by Defendant, indicating that Defendant was involved in ISIS and Iraq activities. and continued to support violent attacks. That's the name,” the Justice Department said.
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His family “expressed concern” in an FBI interview, saying “subsequent analysis of the defendant's electronic devices revealed his efforts to create and disseminate propaganda glorifying ISIS's ongoing violence.” “Multiple encrypted messaging applications were uncovered containing records,” the department alleged, “which is the basis for the felony assisting charges.”
Syed allegedly refused to comply with FBI agents who executed a search warrant last Friday and destroyed his cell phone.
