Arrest of New Yorker for Financial Support and Attempt to Join ISIS

On Wednesday, November 7, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of a New York man at John F. Kennedy Airport on charges of providing financial support to ISIS. The man, identified as Syed Aman, an American citizen residing in Nassau County, New York, was arrested on November 5 while attempting to board a flight to Qatar, from where he planned to travel to Syria to join ISIS. The Brooklyn federal court announced on Wednesday that Aman had expressed his support for ISIS through social media posts during 2023 and 2024 and had sent money to an individual believed to be an ISIS operative. The U.S. Department of Justice also stated that since early October, an undercover FBI agent posing as an ISIS affiliate had been in contact with Aman and was aware of his plans to join ISIS in Syria. According to the announcement, Aman told the undercover agent that 'jihad and migration' were currently his most important desires in life and that if they did not kill 'infidels' and become 'martyrs,' the earth would be destroyed. Aman also told the undercover FBI agent that he would attack the police with a 'pen' in self-defense if arrested. A silver metal pen was found in his bag at the time of his arrest. He will soon stand trial. The article also mentions the arrest of a refugee suspected of links to ISIS and accused of plotting against the Israeli embassy in Germany, the killing of 163 ISIS members in Iraq and Syria over the past two months, a meeting on the electoral threat landscape in the U.S., and U.S. military operations in Syria resulting in the deaths of at least 35 ISIS members.