Islamist Terror Incidents Targeting U.S. Increase in 2024

These incidents seemingly stemmed from a variety of motivations, from a desire to support ISIS or its offshoots (such as ISIS-K in Pakistan and Afghanistan) to anger over the war in Gaza that began following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks against Israel. Several of the terror incidents involved relatively unsophisticated perpetrators whose desire to conduct some sort of operation outpaced their resources or ability to carry one out.

However, perpetrators in two incidents were successful in causing serious harm—including a shooting injury and the damaging of an energy facility.

Incidents:

·  Chicago, Illinois, October 26, 2024. Authorities arrested a 22-year-old Chicago resident, Sidi Mohammed Abdullahi, on 14 felony counts following a shooting attack against a Jewish man on his way to synagogue services. Abdullahi reportedly shot the victim—who survived the attack—then lingered at the scene for a half-hour to open fire on law enforcement and first responders coming to the scene of the shooting. Police returning fire seriously injured, but did not kill, Abdullahi. Following days of investigation, authorities subsequently added state hate crime and terrorism charges, saying that evidence from the attacker’s phone revealed that the shooting was planned and deliberately targeted Jews.

·  Peoria, Arizona, October 18, 2024. Police in Arizona arrested a teenager on state charges of terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism, alleging that he had been inspired by ISIS to plot an attack on a Phoenix Pride parade, using a remote-controlled drone with explosives. The juvenile—who was charged as an adult—had allegedly purchased the chemicals needed to make an explosive.

·  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, October 7, 2024. Federal authorities arrested an Afghan national, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, on charges of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and receiving a firearm to be used to commit a felony or federal crime of terrorism. Tawhedi had allegedly affiliated himself with ISIS-K, the branch of ISIS based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and sought to commit a mass casualty attack in the U.S. on Election Day. Tawhedi and a juvenile accomplice were arrested while allegedly trying to purchase assault-style weapons and ammo for their attack from undercover FBI agents. French authorities arrested two of Tawhedi’s brothers on similar charges in that country.

·  New York, New York, September 6, 2024. As part of a two-country investigation, Canadian authorities arrested a Pakistani citizen, Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, who was trying to cross the border into the U.S., allegedly as part of a planned mass shooting against a Jewish target in Brooklyn, in support of ISIS. According to authorities, Khan boasted that his attack would be the “largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.” A federal indictment in the Southern District of New York charged Khan with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

·  Orlando, Florida, July 11, 2024. Federal authorities arrested Hashem Younis Hashem Hnaihen, a Jordanian living in Orlando, Florida, charging him with destruction of an energy facility and four counts of threatening to use explosives. According to prosecutors, Hnaihen targeted businesses he believed were supportive of Israel. Beginning in June 2024, he allegedly vandalized several Orlando-area businesses and facilities, including a propane gas distribution depot, leaving “warning letters” at the premises that included threats and demands. Hnaihen also allegedly attacked a solar power facility, causing more than $700,000 in damage.

·  New York, New York, August 6, 2024. In an international terrorist incident, federal authorities arrested a Pakistani citizen, Asif Merchant, in connection with an alleged plot to conduct political assassinations in the U.S. Merchant allegedly traveled to New York in April 2024 to hire hitmen to carry out the killings but ended up paying a $5,000 advance to undercover law enforcement officers posing as potential assassins. Federal authorities say Merchant had ties to Iran. He was charged with one count of murder for hire, but in September 2024 federal prosecutors filed a new indictment that also charged him with attempting to carry out an act of terrorism.

·  Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, April 6, 2024.  Federal authorities arrested Alexander Scott Mercurio on charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization. Mercurio allegedly plotted to attack local churches on behalf of ISIS, in a bid to kill as many people as possible before being killed by law enforcement or dying by suicide. The 18-year-old Mercurio allegedly told law enforcement that he had previously had white supremacist views but later switched to supporting ISIS.

The surge in Islamist extremist terror incidents in 2024 is troubling, especially as the terrorist threat from other forms of extremism, such as accelerationist white supremacists, has not decreased.

Moreover, potential future U.S. policies such as a renewal of the so-called “Muslim ban” as well as mass deportations could provide further ammunition for Islamist extremist propagandists abroad to incite violence within the United States. U.S. authorities must be sure to guard against the threat of terrorism from all potential sources, whatever the cause or ideology.

The article is published courtesy of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).