fbpx

A Pakistani man who immigrated to the United States legally has been arrested and charged in a possible ISIS-inspired terror attack that was thwarted in New York City.

“Authorities say the suspect, identified as Awais Chudhary, came to the attention of investigators last week when he was in an online chatroom,” according to ABC7. “He allegedly said he was trying to buy a tactical knife that he wanted to use in a terror attack in Queens in the name of ISIS.”

Chudhary was arrested Thursday at a shopping center in Flushing, Queens, where he met with an undercover law enforcement officer with whom he had chatted with online. The suspect lived at home with his parents and siblings, and reportedly told the undercover officer that he was open to committing other forms of violence, such as a bombing.

FBI agents searched his home after his arrest, and his parents reportedly told authorities that they had no idea about their son’s jihadi aspirations. Chudhary was charged with providing material or source material to a terrorist group, and denied bail. He will appear in court on Sept. 13.

Knife attacks have become an increasingly common means by which radical Islamists carry out their terrorist agendas worldwide.

In June, an Afghan migrant living in Britain went on a stabbing spree, specifically asking his victims whether they were English before attacking them. He reportedly wanted to “harm and kill members of the public by virtue of their nationality.”

In August, a pair of Islamic terrorists wielding knives were shot by Israeli authorities after attempting to stab a police officer in Jerusalem. One of the suspects was killed. That incident occurred only two days after a man yelling “Allahu Akbar,” meaning “God is Great,” the rallying cry of Islamic terrorists, was arrested by Australian authorities in Sydney after stabbing several people, killing one.

Just two days ago, an Afghan migrant seeking asylum in Lyon, France was arrested for stabbing 10 people in a spree that killed one person.

Chudhary’s is also case-in-point example of America’s broken system of immigration, which not only leaves our southern border wide open for potentially dangerous people to cross, but also brings people into the country legally who might want to do America harm. Chudary’s story is certainly not the first of its kind.

In May, 20-year-old Jonathan Xie was arrested by the FBI for the same crime, providing material support to a terrorist organization, after he “became fixated on joining an extremist faction of Hamas, the Palestinian fundamentalist group designated a terrorist organization by the United States.”

On Instagram, Xie railed against the United States and Israel and threatened to blow up Trump Tower. He alleged sent money to Hamas via the internet, too. His YouTube playlist was filled with 114 videos, “many of them terrorist propaganda.”

One of President Donald J. Trump’s key issues in the 2016 election was border security, as he promised to end unfettered immigration and keep America safe from those who might not be so friendly. While he has attempted to close the border with a wall, some of which is currently being built, many in the political establishment, even in the GOP, who claim to care about border security, have resisted his agenda.

It is crucial to United States sovereignty that we tighten our border security.