ISIS Suspect In New Jersey Had Plans For Beheading: Court Document

Another American young man was arrested in connection with ISIS forces. The New Jersey man was arrested Monday for allegedly plotting to provide material support to the militants.

The arrest was confirmed by Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel of the FBI’s Newark Division, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey and Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin. Alaa Saadeh is accused of conspiring to provide personnel and services to ISIS terrorists.

The District of New Jersey announced that the 23-year-old had been arrested after an investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI. If convicted, Saadeh would face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000 for each count.

A former roommate told the FBI about the suspicious behavior of Saadeh’s brother. According to him, the brother had been radicalized. The indictment does not name the brother but mentions that he was arrested in his native country, Jordan. The arrest was made after he had been suspected of providing support to ISIS terrorists.

Saadeh said that he was aware of his brother’s plans to join ISIS forces. Prosecutors said that Saadeh had bought a plane ticket even though he knew that his brother would use it for traveling to join the militant forces. According to the investigation, Saadeh provided transport to his brother and removed a SIM card from his brother’s phone to conceal relevant data.

Court documents stated that Saadeh had plans to travel to the Middle East and fight for ISIS forces. He had conversations with an FBI informant and talked about his plan to achieve his “violent agenda” by the use of mass killings and beheadings. Saadeh also told an anonymous co-conspirator that he would travel overseas to carry out his extremist plans.

Electronic communications revealed that Saadeh continued to discuss his travel plans to join ISIS militants even after he had come to know about his brother’s arrest in Jordan. He also discussed his policy to “lay low” for the time being.

Saadeh came to know that he was under the FBI surveillance. He asked an informant not to reveal his ISIS plans to the bureau. He asked the man to be “honest up to a point” and “play dumb.”