Federal prosecutors revealed Friday that a man from New Jersey is facing terrorist charges after attempting to offer material assistance to the Islamist militant group al Shabaab in Somalia.
The individual, Karrem Nasr, 23, was allegedly motivated by the Oct. 7 terrorist strike on Israel and had “devoted himself to waging violent jihad against America and its allies,” according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Nasr was apprehended in Kenya on December 14 but was extradited to the US on Thursday.
“Nasr was prepared to kill and be killed to support the jihadist cause, and in his own words, he described America as ‘evil’ and the ‘head of the snake,’” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams in a statement. “Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the career prosecutors in my Office and our law enforcement partners who led the investigation, Nasr’s plan to train with a terrorist organization and wage violent jihad has been disrupted.”
According to prosecutors, Nasr hoped to join and train with al-Shabaab terrorists. Nasr is said to have moved to Egypt in the summer before traveling to Kenya to join the extremists. He had also intended to accompany them from Kenya to Somalia but was apprehended before he could.
Nasr was brought to the attention of the Justice Department by a confidential source who reported social media posts Nasr made on X, now known as Twitter. Nasr stated in one post that he wished to be a martyr and intended to bring a “jihad on home turf.”
“You may have F35s and nuclear weapons, and we may have only IEDs and small arms,” Nasr stated in one tweet, according to the DOJ. “But we fight for god, you fight for your oppressive, materialistic geopolitical agenda.”
Nasr, of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, has been charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
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