New Yorker charged in ’Nice in Times Square’ terrorism plot - report
A Brooklyn, New York resident has been charged by federal authorities for supporting terrorism, after making online postings supporting ISIS in plotting to commit an attack in Times Square similar to that in Nice, France.
The man has been identified as Mohammed Rafik Naji, 37, a legal US resident originally from Yemen, according to NBC News investigative reporter Tom Winter.
Naji made several online posts in support of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Winter said, citing the federal complaint.
BREAKING/MORE: Mohamed Naji a legal U.S. resident from Yemen has been charged. Made several online postings supporting ISIS.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) November 21, 2016
Naji was arrested Monday morning and charged in a federal court in Brooklyn, according to the FBI.
Naji allegedly traveled to Yemen in 2015 in an attempt to join ISIS. He's not charged with plotting anything in the U.S.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) November 21, 2016
"I was saying if there is a truck, I mean a garbage truck and one drives it there to Times Square and crushes them…” the complaint quotes Naji as saying to a FBI informant during a recorded phone conversation in July, NBC reported.
On July 14, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel – a Tunisian living in France – drove a truck into the crowd of revelers celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people and injuring over 400. IS claimed credit for the attack.
US authorities have warned the public to expect a possible terrorist attack during the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays.
