Former National Guardsman Charged in Islamic State Attack Plot

A former member of the Army National Guard in Sterling, Va. has been arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support for the Islamic State, according to the Washington Post. 

Mohamad Bailor Jalloh was arrested Sunday after he got involved with planning a terror attack on U.S. soil. Court documents said he quit the National Guard after listening to lectures from deceased radical muslim cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi.

Al-Aulaqi said it was every able Muslim's duty to resist American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jalloh told an associate that he "understood this was the reality," according to the Post.

Jalloh said he was interested in carrying out an attack such as Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 in 2009 in a Fort Hood, TX shooting rampage. Jalloh suggested targeting anyone who made cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.


"You have to pick a action and take it cuz time is not on your side," he wrote to an ally, according to the Post.

Local news site Loudoun Now reported that Jalloh had met with an Islamic State member, now deceased, who introduced him to an Islamic State source who was secretly working with the FBI.

Loudoun Now reported that Jalloh made several unsuccessful attempts to buy firearms. He bought and test-fired a Stag Arms assault rifle at a gun store, but the FBI rendered the weapon inoperable before he left the store with it, and Jalloh was arrested the next day.

Loudoun Now reported that Jalloh could face 20 years in prison if he is convicted.

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