A 28-year-old Houston man has been indicted for allegedly attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization. Anas Said was arrested by FBI agents on November 8 in the parking lot of his residence, according to court documents reviewed by Breitbart Texas.
Said attended a detention hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Bray on Thursday and remains in custody. Authorities allege Said operated multiple social media accounts that contained messages and posts that allegedly revealed Said’s support for ISIS and the violent attacks carried out in the terrorist organization’s name.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, law enforcement executed searches of Said, his residence, vehicle, and electronic devices. According to court documents, analysis of the seized devices ultimately revealed Said’s activities related to the creation and dissemination of propaganda on behalf of ISIS.
According to a detention memorandum filed by the Department of Justice in the case, Said first appeared on the FBI’s radar in late 2017 after a tip was received regarding an online purchase of stickers containing imagery in support of ISIS. During subsequent interviews of the suspect conducted by the FBI in 2018, Said told authorities both stickers were meant to show support for ISIS. Said told interviewers he started believing in ISIS’s ideology around 2015 after returning to the United States from Lebanon, where he and his family had lived until late 2014. According to the document, Said claimed he did not support killing by ISIS but admitted to visiting ISIS websites and liking the fact that ISIS was “waking people up.”
Although not currently charged with any plans to carry out acts of violence within the United States, the court document reviewed by Breitbart Texas reveals Said may have had those intentions, as revealed in statements allegedly made by the suspect to the FBI agents after his arrest.
According to the detention memorandum filed with the federal court by the Department of Justice, when questioned about attempts to travel to join ISIS, Said stated he would readily move back to Lebanon if he were released. He also discussed his efforts to commit violence in the United States, including considering purchasing a gun, researching military recruitment facilities, and scouting one specific location on Westheimer Road in Houston, Texas.
Authorities allege Said also stated he “considered asking military members that he would see near his work if they supported Israel or if they had been deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq and killed Muslims there, and if they said yes, those are the persons he would kill. The Defendant also acknowledged he has anger and control issues and desires to kill and fight for ISIS”.
The document also alleges Said discussed researching an unnamed Jewish organization in Houston. The court document alleges he told agents that “he intended to post a flyer on the door to deter its support of Israel. If the flyer was unsuccessful, he planned to impersonate a donor to meet the head of the organization in order to convince the organization to stop funding Israel. If the head of the organization refused, then the Defendant would assault him/her. The Defendant also discussed researching Jewish related locations, such as synagogues and the Israeli Consulate in Houston, to get an understanding of the location, physical layout, and the security measures in place at these locations.”
If convicted, Said faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
Multiple law enforcement agencies assisted the FBI Houston’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) with investigating Said’s activities including special assistance from Houston and Sugar Land Police Departments and Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
The JTTF is comprised of Houston Police Department, sheriff’s offices in Harris and Montgomery Counties, Sugar Land Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, IRS – Criminal Investigation, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Secret Service, Houston Metro Police Department, Customs and Border Protection and Federal Air Marshals Service.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.