Afghan man charged over Election Day terrorist plot "in the name of ISIS"

SUMMARY

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, the Afghan man charged with plotting a terrorist attack in the U.S. on Election Day, arrived in the country on a special immigrant visa in September 2021, according to prosecutors. He had been living in the U.S. for about three years before his arrest on October 7. Prosecutors allege that Tawhedi conspired to carry out the attack on behalf of ISIS and had purchased two AK-47 rifles from an undercover FBI agent in Oklahoma. Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a statement, said, "The Justice Department foiled the defendant's plot to acquire semi-automatic weapons and commit a violent attack in the name of ISIS on U.S. soil on Election Day." He added, "We will continue to combat the ongoing threat that ISIS and its supporters pose to America's national security." Tawhedi, who arrived as a migrant through a special visa program, was also found to have participated in a pro-ISIS Telegram group and saved ISIS propaganda on his computer.