Man Arrested By FBI At LAX, Wanted To Be Martyr For ISIS
The FBI has made two arrests in regard to a plot to join ISIS, including one at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The arrests were a part of a careful investigation that revealed disturbing conversations about a desire to become a martyr for the terrorist organization.
According to NBC News, the FBI arrested Muhanad Badawi and Nader Elhuzayel on Thursday. Authorities nabbed Elhuzayel at LAX preparing to board a plane for Turkey. Badawi was taken in later at a gas station in Orange County. Both the men were 24 years old and from Anaheim, California.
The Los Angeles Times reports they caught the attention of FBI counter-terrorism agents with “inflammatory comments.”
The investigation that followed recorded a phone conversation where the two praised the Islamic State and started talking about going to the Middle East to fight. They considered Yemen for its natural beauty but settled on going to Syria.
Elhuzayel wanted to become a martyr for ISIS, and the two said they’d drink in paradise after they died.
Badawi bought his friend a plane ticket from LAX on his debit card, but police intercepted Elhuzayel before he got a chance to board. His parents were dropping him off at the airport according to CBS News.
Elhuzayel’s mother explained, “We find the FBI blocking us down the street and said we cannot enter the place.”
When the parents returned to their hotel room in Anaheim’s Crystal Inn, they had another surprise.
“We just come back and from nowhere the FBI raid our room. They broke our door. They made holes in there; they threw all our clothes and everything outside in the street.”
The family has lived in the Inn since they went bankrupt two years ago and lost their house.
The parents insist their son is a good man who was on his way to Istanbul and then to Israel to visit Palestinian relatives living in the West Bank.
Still, according to the criminal complaint, the young man admitted he intended to join ISIS after police read him his Miranda rights.
Kate Corrigan, the court-appointed attorney representing Badawi, explained that her client is “immature for his age” and didn’t show the same intention to leave the country as Elhuzayel did.
She said he is “someone who’s misunderstood, perhaps a college student who got caught up in a conversation he shouldn’t have.”
There were no private discussions about Badawi’s specific travel plans, although he could still be criminally culpable for buying Elhuzayel’s one-way plane ticket.
Elhuzayel’s parents claim the ticket was only one-way because their son didn’t know how long he’d want to stay. They also reported that he’s “Muslim, but not very religious, just normal,” but has become more observant over the past year.
The two men will have their first hearing on June 5th. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the FBI arrests followed closely with other ISIS recruitees trying fly to the Middle East, including the recent bust of six Minnesota men.
[Image Credit: Getty Images]
