Man arrested at JFK Airport in plot to join ISIS in Syria

A New York man was arrested at the JFK International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Qatar to join ISIS, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Syed Aman faces charges for attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization. The Justice Department said Aman wanted to join ISIS to engage in a holy war, or jihad, in Syria. He told an undercover agent he hated people who "deny the path of Allah" and that if people aren't killed, they will "kill us and ruin the earth with decay," according to federal prosecutors.

"During this same time period, Aman also posted on a social media platform his desire 'to kill Americans' and wrote in a notebook his intent to study becoming a shaheed, or martyr on behalf of ISIS," the Justice Department said.

ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, is a Salafi-jihadist group, according to the National Counterterrorism Center. The U.S. Secretary of State designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization in 2004. The group is in northern and eastern Syria and northern Iraq with an estimated 8,000 to 16,000 members.

Aman is one of a growing number of Americans arrested for attempting to join or support the organization. George Washington University's Program on Extremism said in March 2023 that 246 people have been charged for joining since 2014.

The FBI arrested Aman after he passed security checkpoints in the Queens, N.Y. airport, the Justice Department said. He told a confidential source once he's in Qatar, he'd buy a flight to Turkey and cross into Syria to join ISIS.

Man created ISIS manuals on security, motivation for Jihad

FBI Special Agent Marisa Zahn wrote in the complaint that Aman began expressing his support of the Islamic State in 2023 and gave money to a person he thought was a supporter, but turned out to be a confidential FBI source, to support the terrorist organization.

Zahn wrote that Aman joined an online ISIS forum in June 2023, where the anonymous source was also a member. Others in the group shared propaganda and discussed how to move to an ISIS territory and provide financial support to the organization. Aman told the source he wanted to become a fighter and make the move.

Aman attempted to enter Syria in June 2023, but his mother took his passport after he told her about his plans, Zahn wrote.

He told the confidential source that same month about his background in computer programming and that he used it to author two Islamic State manuals on cyber and personal security precautions, and another to "motivate brothers for Jihad," Zahn wrote.

In one document, he urged people to talk about their plans discretely and included an article about a London man's plans being thwarted because his acquaintances told law enforcement. He kept in contact with the source, seeking advice on his plans and expressing his desire to join the group.

Aman told the source in July this year he grew weary about the FBI tracking him, Zahn wrote, and deleted a social media account "until it is safe as they are known to seize phones," he told the source.

He didn't speak to the source again until October when he spoke in detail about his plans to join the jihad. In those plans, Aman would get laser eye surgery, leave the U.S. immediately afterward, book travel arrangements on a credit card and travel to Turkey directly or enter through Bangladesh, according to court papers.

Aman told the source in October he'd attack and kill law enforcement who tried to arrest him at an airport but didn't do that Tuesday night at the JFK International Airport, Zahn wrote. The FBI arrested him before he boarded the flight for Qatar and found a steel metal pen in his bag. Aman advised people in his manual to carry the pen for an attack since it likely wouldn't get detected by security.

American's ISIS membership, attack plans thwarted

Aman's arrest is one of many attempts by law enforcement to stop Americans from joining the terrorist group or carrying out their attack plans.

In October, a U.S. Army soldier was sentenced to 14 years in prison for trying to help the Islamic State attack American troops. Federal prosecutors said Pfc. Cole Bridges, also known as Cole Gonzales, consumed propaganda and expressed support for the terrorist group.

He gave an undercover FBI agent advice on potential targets in New York City and instructions on how to attack U.S. forces in the Middle East with diagrams of military maneuvers.

Also in October, an Afghan man was arrested in Oklahoma for conspiring to conduct a terrorist attack in Oklahoma City on behalf of the Islamic State on Election Day. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi was arrested along with his brother-in-law.

In September, a Pakistani citizen was arrested by Canadian law enforcement near the U.S.-Canada border. In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Courts, federal prosecutors said Muhammad Shahzeb Khan had plans to carry out a mass shooting for ISIS at a Jewish center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The U.S. is working to extradite Khan from Canada.

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter,@KrystalRNurse.