Metropolis Desk-
The United States Justice Department announced that a man from New Jersey who was detained in Kenya was accused of attempting to support Al-Shabab, a violent Islamist organization, and claimed that his motivation for doing so came from Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
With the Israel-Gaza conflict having escalated antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents, the United States is experiencing an increased threat of terrorism.
An announcement from the Justice Department on Friday stated that Karrem Nasr, a US citizen who relocated to Egypt from New Jersey in July, was arrested in Nairobi on December 14 and returned to the country on Thursday.
The 23-year-old is accused of “attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization,” a crime for which there is a possible 20-year prison sentence, according to the prosecution.
Al-Shabab is classified as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the US.
Kareem Nasr “devoted himself to waging violent jihad against America and its allies, as alleged,” US Attorney Damian Williams stated, “motivated by the heinous terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas on October 7.”
Prosecutors said that Nasr left Egypt and traveled to Kenya “bent on joining and training with Al-Shabab.”
In correspondence with an FBI-protected source and online posts, Nasr claimed to have considered “becoming a jihadi for a long time, and the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in Israel was particularly motivating for him to do so,” according to the prosecution.
According to the Justice Department, Nasr took action to join and receive training from Al-Shabab. He intended to meet with members of the group in Kenya before continuing to Somalia to join them. The Kenyan government arrested him.
Whether counsel represented Nasr was unclear.
The Justice Department announced that it was keeping an eye on the growing threats against Muslims and Jews in the US as a result of the Middle East conflict-related spike in antisemitism and Islamophobia.
FBI Director Christopher Wray claimed to have seen “blinking lights everywhere” in early December, indicating that the threat level had increased.
Source- Arab News
