FBI Director Christopher Wray issued a warning on Tuesday, alerting that foreign terrorist organizations are again eyeing the United States for potential attacks in an “increasingly concerning” way.
During a speech at the American Bar Association luncheon in Washington, the FBI director stated that the agency is actively working to prevent potential attacks on U.S. soil orchestrated by terrorist groups like ISIS-K, short for Islamic State Khorasan.
“Foreign terrorists, including ISIS, al-Qaeda, and their adherents, have renewed calls for attacks against Jewish communities here in the United States and across the West in statements and propaganda,” Mr. Wray said at the event Tuesday.
He then mentioned the terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia, attributed to ISIS, which resulted in the deaths of over 140 people.
“The foreign terrorist threat and the potential for a coordinated attack here in the homeland, like the ISIS-K attack we saw at the Russia Concert Hall a couple of weeks ago, is now increasingly concerning. Oct. 7 and the conflict that’s followed will feed a pipeline of radicalization and mobilization for years to come,” he stated.
The FBI revealed that an 18-year-old Idaho resident, identified as Alexander Mercurio in court documents, was arrested for allegedly planning a terrorist attack on local churches.
According to authorities, Mercurio confided his plans to an FBI informant, expressing his desire to carry out the attack last Sunday, April 7. However, law enforcement intervened, thwarting his alleged plot.
“The defendant allegedly pledged loyalty to ISIS and sought to attack people attending churches in Idaho, a truly horrific plan which was detected and thwarted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force,” the FBI director said in a statement earlier this week.
Months ago, an 18-year-old from Colorado, Humzah Mashkoor, faced charges for allegedly supporting ISIS. Authorities claim he plotted to travel to the Middle East and join the terrorist organization.
ISIS gained prominence during the Syrian civil war, which began in the early 2010s following the “Arab Spring” uprisings in the Middle East. Utilizing gruesome execution videos on social media, the group managed to seize significant territory in Syria and Iraq. However, they were eventually ousted from the region by U.S., Russian, and Syrian forces.
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