Brooklyn men who wanted to join ISIS had plans to shoot President Obama: FBI

Three accused jihadists from Brooklyn who plotted to join the Islamic State were nabbed Wednesday — including one who declared himself ready to “execute” President Obama.

 

“What I’m saying is to shoot Obama and then get shot ourselves, will it do?” one of the would-be terrorists wrote in an ominous Web post. “That will strike fear in the heart of infidels.”

 

Two of the suspects — roommates and falafel restaurant workers Abdurasul Juraboev and Akhror Saidakhmetov — were arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court. The third — salesman Abror Habibov — was captured in Florida and arraigned in Jacksonville.

The trio, who also threatened to plant a bomb in Coney Island, was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization. If convicted, each faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

“Both men confessed that the purpose of their travel was to go to Syria and join ISIS and wage jihad, and Juraboev said he did not intend to come back,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Pravda said at the arraignment in Brooklyn.

“This is real,” Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said before the court proceeding. “This is the lone wolf inspired to take up arms against our country.”

But Saidakhmetov’s lawyer said his client is “a 19-year-old kid, he’s obviously scared, frightened.”

“What we have is a rush by the government to prosecute,” said attorney Adam Perlmutter.

At the Midwood apartment building where two of the suspects lived, a woman believed to be Saidakhmetov’s mother began screaming late Wednesday when reporters told her that her son had been arrested.

“No, it can’t be!” she hollered. “It’s not true!”

In court papers, Juraboev — who posted the threat against Obama — said he was gunning for him to avenge the U.S. air strikes against ISIS and because of the President’s support for Israel.

“We too wanted to pledge our allegiance and commit ourselves while not present there,” he wrote Aug. 8 to an Uzbek-language website with ISIS ties.

A 24-year-old immigrant from Uzbekistan, Juraboev wrote under the alias “Abdulloh ibn Hasan.”

Juraboev and the others intended to join ISIS “by flying to Turkey in a vain attempt to evade detection,” said Diego Rodriguez, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York office.

Their backup plan, if the three failed to hook up with ISIS, was to launch a terror attack in the U.S., killing cops and FBI agents.

“I will just go and buy a machine gun, AK-47, go out and shoot all police,” Saidakhmetov allegedly told an informant on Jan. 11, according to court papers.

Saidakhmetov, an ethnic Uzbek from Kazakhstan, also allegedly offered to enlist in the U.S. military so he could spy for ISIS, authorities said. Habibov, 30, is also from Uzbekistan.

NYPD anti-terror chief John Miller said the two suspects nabbed in New York were legal permanent residents. The suspect arrested in Florida “was here legally and overstayed.”

The plot was revealed just days before the money to run the Homeland Security Department was set to run out.

Rodriguez said the FBI moved to apprehend the men because Saidakhmetov was supposed to board a flight Wednesday to Turkey.

The trio had been on the FBI’s radar since August, when Juraboev first reached out to ISIS via Hilofatnews, an Uzbek-language website. When the FBI questioned Juraboev a few days later, he made no secret of his desire to kill Obama or “plant a bomb on Coney Island” if ordered to do so. Juraboev even gave up Saidakhmetov, saying they discussed waging “jihad by fighting in Syria or by engaging in violence in the United States,” court papers state.

But the FBI made no move to arrest Juraboev even after he threatened Obama because it wanted to see who else he was in cahoots with.

Saidakhmetov, an ethnic Uzbek from Kazakhstan, also allegedly offered to enlist in the U.S. military so he could spy for ISIS, authorities said. Habibov, 30, is also from Uzbekistan.

NYPD anti-terror chief John Miller said the two suspects nabbed in New York were legal permanent residents. The suspect arrested in Florida “was here legally and overstayed.”

The plot was revealed just days before the money to run the Homeland Security Department was set to run out.

Rodriguez said the FBI moved to apprehend the men because Saidakhmetov was supposed to board a flight Wednesday to Turkey.

The trio had been on the FBI’s radar since August, when Juraboev first reached out to ISIS via Hilofatnews, an Uzbek-language website. When the FBI questioned Juraboev a few days later, he made no secret of his desire to kill Obama or “plant a bomb on Coney Island” if ordered to do so. Juraboev even gave up Saidakhmetov, saying they discussed waging “jihad by fighting in Syria or by engaging in violence in the United States,” court papers state.

But the FBI made no move to arrest Juraboev even after he threatened Obama because it wanted to see who else he was in cahoots with.

In September, the FBI was monitoring as Juraboev and Saidakhmetov discussed traveling to Syria via Turkey to join their “evening brothers.” But Saidakhmetov’s mother nearly put a serious crimp in the would-be jihadist’s travel plans. She had his passport. And when he told her on Feb. 19 that it was a sin to live in a “land of infidels,” she hung up on him, sources said.

The teenage jihadi was arrested at Kennedy Airport by the joint FBI-NYPD Joint Terror Task Force early Wednesday, as he attempted to board a plane to Turkey — a gateway to Syria. Juraboev was nabbed at their Midwood digs.

Saidakhmetov bought a round-trip $530 ticket to Istanbul on Feb. 19 at Nil Travel on Coney Island Ave., office manager Frank Cakir told the Daily News. Cakir said Saidakhmetov set off no alarms. Juraboev bought his ticket in December and was supposed to fly to Istanbul next month.

Their building super saw Juraboev and Saidakhmetov as they were leaving their apartment Tuesday.

“I asked them where they were going? They said, ‘vacation,’” recalled the super, who declined to give his name.

Habibov, who runs cell phone and kitchen merchandise kiosks in several states, was arrested in Florida. His role in the plot was providing the money so Saidakhmetov could purchase his plane ticket, the feds said.

With Rich Schapiro reporting from Jacksonville, Fla.