Nader Sa’adeh, 20, became the sixth suspect to be arrested since June in a Da’esh (ISIS) plot that has spread across the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region, U.S. officials say.
The tri-state ISIS cell allegedly includes several more potential terrorists who have yet to be caught.
Sa’adeh viewed propaganda from the terrorist group on the Internet. He planned to travel overseas to join ISIS in Syria, according to court papers filed by the Department of Justice.
A former resident of Rutherford, New Jersey, Sa’adeh was arrested Monday on charges of conspiring to support ISIS, according to the DOJ. He was arraigned in federal district court in Newark, New Jersey.
Sa’adeh’s brother Ala’a had already been arrested on June 29 on the same charges.
The terror organization’s extensive online presence has been a major factor in its successful recruitment and radicalization of English-speaking young people, said U.S. authorities quoted by Reuters.
Both brothers were in contact with Samuel Rahamin Topaz, 21 of Fort Lee, who watched ISIS videos with others and was arrested June 17. They were also in contact with Munther Omar Saleh, a college student from Flushing, Queens, New York, who was arrested June 13.
Saleh is alleged to have been plotting to build pressure cooker bombs to set off somewhere in New York, according to a report by NBC News.
In addition, Fareed Mumuni, 21, was arrested at his home in Staten Island, New York on June 17 with an unnamed 17-year-old suspect. Mumuni attacked an FBI agent with a knife during the execution of a search warrant.
NBC terror expert Robert Windram noted in a report on June 18, “We’re seeing somewhat of a shift from those people who want to travel to Syria and Iraq and follow ISIS, and also some people now who are ‘plotters.’
New Jersey’s U.S. District Attorney, Paul J. Fishman said, “We will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to disrupt the efforts of those who are trying to do harm at home and abroad.”