Two Arizona men — one a Somali refugee and the other a Somali native and legal U.S. resident — who allegedly wanted to join ISIS were arrested in Tucson and charged with conspiring to provide material support to the terror group, federal officials said Monday.
Ahmed Mahad Mohamed, 21, and Abdi Yemani Hussein, 20, were arrested at Tucson International Airport last Friday after the pair checked in for their flight to Egypt, the Department of Justice said.
In an affidavit, the FBI said Mohamed and Hussein discussed their plans to join ISIS with an undercover FBI agent, who they believed to be a supporter of ISIS.
From that communication, officials said they determined Mohamed and Hussein wanted to travel overseas to fight with ISIS or to conduct an attack within the United States, according to the affidavit.
"The best wake up call is Islamic State to get victory or another 9/11," Mohamed said in one conversation, the affidavit said.
In another, he allegedly said "I want to be the new jihadi John . . . beheading the kuffar like animal" and "when I get my passport I make jijrah [a fighter’s journey] or die or go in jail," the affidavit said.
The DOJ said both defendants came to the United States as refugees from Somalia. At the time of their arrest, Mohamed had obtained lawful permanent resident status and Hussein remained a refugee.