Federal authorities have secured the arrest of a man planning to conduct a series of terrorist attacks in Houston.
Anas Said, a 28-year-old with Lebanese roots, was charged last month with attempting to provide material support to the terrorist group ISIS, according to an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Texas.
Law enforcement arrested Said last week in his Houston apartment, where authorities allege he was planning the attack. The FBI says Said bragged about committing a "9/11 style" attack if he had the resources.
According to authorities, Said had plans of traveling to Lebanon, in part due to his affinity for Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, a former ISIS spokesperson. He allegedly told FBI agents that he created propaganda for the terrorist group and even considered attacking members of the U.S. military at the place where he worked at.
Other parts of his plans included researching the locations and physical layouts of synagogues and the Israeli Consulate in Houston, court documents show.
"We stopped a potential terrorist attack from happening right here in Houston! Any day we can publicly say that is a good day," the FBI's Houston field office tweeted on Nov. 14.
Anas Said was arrested last week at the apartment complex where he lived.
— FBI Houston (@FBIHouston) November 14, 2024
We stopped a potential terrorist attack from happening right here in Houston! Any day we can publicly say that is a good day. #HouNews pic.twitter.com/9QUkhu20JM
But according to a detention memo filed in the case, Said's plans were not new. He had been posting pro-ISIS messages on social media and buying propaganda since 2017.
Federal agents interviewed him several times before finally arresting him. In 2019, he told law enforcement that he no longer consumed radical Islamic propaganda and that he only used the internet for schoolwork and sports.
But court documents show that Said lied to law enforcement for years, as he continued to use different Facebook accounts and encrypted messaging applications to create and disseminate propaganda that supported ISIS and the violent attacks carried out in its name.
When he was finally arrested in November of this year, authorities say he initially refused to comply, but later detailed his support for ISIS as well as most of his plans.
Apart from attacking synagogues and the Israeli Consulate, Said had plans of attacking members of the military. He allegedly would ask military personnel whom he would see near his work about their stance on Israel, whether they had been deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq and whether they had killed Muslims.
"If they said yes, those are the persons he would kill," the documents say.
In an email, Said's lawyer said the case appears to be a complicated one and that "it will take some time to sift through all of the evidence." Despite that, Baldemar Zuniga, Said's lawyer, said he is focusing on the allegation that his client provided material support by producing videos and propaganda for a terrorist organization.
"Despite allegations that my client made statements to government agents regarding proposed terrorist acts, the indictment does not currently allege any planning, or acts, of terrorism," Zuniga said.
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