Mercer County man arrested in Kenya after attempting to join foreign terrorist group
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LAWRENCEVILLE – A Mercer County man was arrested in Kenya after attempting to join a terrorist organization “so that he could execute his jihadist mission of death and destruction,” according to federal prosecutors.
Karrem Nasr, aka Ghareeb Al-Muhajir, of Lawrenceville was charged with with attempting to provide material support to al Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He was arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, on Dec. 14 and returned to the United States Thursday.
He had been attempting to travel to Somalia to join al Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization, said Damian Williams, United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Nasr was expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan today.
According to Williams, Nasr was “motivated by the heinous terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7. He “devoted himself to waging violent jihad against America and its allies” and was “bent on joining and training with al Shabaab so that he could execute his jihadist mission of death and destruction.”
Williams said Nasr was prepared to kill and be killed to support the jihadist cause, and that Nasr described America as “evil” and the “head of the snake.”
“Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the career prosecutors in my office and our law enforcement partners who led the investigation, Nasr’s plan to train with a terrorist organization and wage violent jihad has been disrupted,” Williams said. “Make no mistake: My office is committed to investigating, disrupting, and prosecuting anyone who is inspired by Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and seeks to harm Americans, whether here or abroad.”
According to the complaint, Nasr, 23, is a United States citizen who moved from New Jersey to Egypt in July. He is a supporter of al Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization that has attacked Americans and American allies, and has repeatedly expressed his desire and plans to join al Shabaab and wage jihad, including in communications with an FBI confidential source who was posing as a facilitator for terrorist organizations.
In those communications and in online postings, Nasr stated that he had been thinking about engaging in jihad for a long time and was particularly motivated after the Hamas attack on Israel, the complaint said.
In recent public social media posts, NASR warned that “Jihad” was “coming soon to a U.S. location near you,” posting an airplane, bomb, and fire emojis, according to the criminal complaint.
Post from Karrem Nasr.
In further communications with the confidential source, Nasr expressed his intent to join al Shabaab to receive military training and engage in jihad, that he was prepared to kill and be killed, and that he specifically aspired to be a martyr for the jihadist cause, the complaint said. Other examples of Nasr’s online posts supportive of jihad and terrorist ideology can be seen in the below images:
Post from Karrem Nasr.
Post from Karrem Nasr.
Nasr took steps to join and receive military training from al Shabaab, including making flight and lodging reservations for travel to Kenya, where he planned to meet members of al Shabaab for further travel to Somalia to join and train with the group, the complaint said. He booked a flight for Dec. 14, from Egypt to Kenya. Additionally, Nasr told the confidential source prior to his flight that he “planned to delete data from his cellphone and computer to ensure that if he were detained, law enforcement would not be able to recover evidence of his jihadist activities from those devices.”
Jenna Calderón covers breaking news and cold cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Before coming to the Press, she covered The Queen City for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio. Contact her at 330-590-3903; jcalderon@gannettnj.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Mercer County man charged with aiding a terrorist organization